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Sunday, September 21, 2014

Salisbury South Wawa Being Proactive

Salisbury's south end Wawa convenience store and gas station has long been plagued by non-customers, many of them from the North Camden/Smith Street area, neighborhoods known to be the home of illicit drug users, addicts and dealers. It was often the case that paying Wawa customers would be approached by panhandlers or beggars and greeted with "do you have a dollar for some food" (offers of actual food were usually refused) or told a story about a bad car alternator or a need to collect bus fare for a trip to Norfolk or Wilmington. The stories were widely varied but the message was the same. Customers were tired of it and many took their business elsewhere. Wall-mounted signs advising against loitering were ignored. Police were called, often several times daily, to move the offenders on and encourage them to utilize social services in the area, even supplying them with a list of those services and their contact information. But as one panhandler left the premises, often for another high traffic south end business, another would take his or her place, necessitating yet another police call, responded to by officers already overtaxed by high call numbers, another call paid for by each and every one of the taxpayers of Salisbury. The strategies weren't working. Too much effort and private and public funds were being spent, too much business was being lost, and the area was threatened by further deterioration.

After long consideration, Wawa came up with a simple, yet effective method to discourage panhandlers from loitering on their property. Using maintenance cones and homemade signs, displayed at strategic points of their walkway, panhandlers who approach the area are warned of trespassing and encouraged to move on. Grammar suffers, but the message is clear: if you're not a customer, you don't belong here. Wawa managers and staff say that the simple signage has been very effective. Customers have openly expressed their gratitude to Wawa staff. Many customers have returned and even more are expected. Sales are up. Police calls are far fewer.

Salisbury News commends Wawa management for coming up with and implementing this simple strategy. It encourages others to follow suit in thinking out of the box to address this increasing local problem.

20 comments:

  1. I go there often and when I walk out, I have had many walk up to me as I was walking back to my car or actually come to my car window after I got in. They ask for cigarettes mostly, but a few ask for money. I am glad that WaWa is taking a stand against this.

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  2. Thank you, Wawa!
    The article is spot on about how many bums and beggars hung around the store. It got to a point where two or three would be leaning on the trash containers, smoking cigarettes, hitting up customers for money on their way in or out. Lots of the same faces every day.
    It seems a lot better now.

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  3. Violators will be trespassed?????

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  4. 12:49 PM

    Like the article says, grammar suffers, but the point gets across.

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  5. Maybe it is written so that the intended reader can understand it.

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  6. The police can't be everywhere, it's just a smart business decision by Wawa. I stopped going there months ago because I couldn't get to my car without somebody asking me for a cigarette and or money. Stop giving them money and they will move on to somewhere else!

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  7. Sadly this will only increase the amount of Homeless and panhandlers around Giant.

    I still have no idea why Giant or the other businesses allow these people to loiter around their property.

    That one homeless guy that wears the cowboy hat was all sprawled out there with all his belongings in broad daylight.

    No one seemed to bother with asking him to move on.

    Who wants to have to step over a homeless guy when your trying to shop. I know they are down on their luck and I wish them the best but letting them all hang around that one area is just asking for trouble.

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  8. GIANT FOOD needs to do the same thing; its parking lot and the sidewalks leading to the store are another beggar's haven. But, I have observed, they all seem to be able to charge their phones using Giant's outside outlets. Many of the group at Giant stray from HALO's shelter in the old Moore's building on S. Division St. Maybe HALO should find some activities to occupy their guests so that the rest of us can buy our groceries in Peace.

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  9. 1:33 BINGO~! I live not far from there and I do have a heart, however Halo is bringing the neighborhood down. Halo needs to clean up their act, I saw some dude with long blonde hair dressed in a mini skirt and lace leggings working the corner of South Blvd and Eastern Shore Dr, at least I'm pretty sure it was a dude!

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  10. I quit going to Gordy's exxon on 50 and Isabella because they would hit me up every time I would go there for gas. I called Salisbury PD about it and was told that if they didn't assault me, they wouldn't do anything about it.

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  11. From the sound of responses, it looks like the business owners (or maybe their landlords) need to be a little more involved in meeting the problem head-on. Calling the police is a waste of time most of the time. It only works temporarily. What's needed is a policy by all of the businesses. Chamber of Commerce, where are you on this? Delmarva Business Leaders, how about you?
    Daily Times, what's your story?
    Salisbury Independent, are you following?

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  12. 3:30, I'll tell you what every one of the organizations you mentioned are going to do, NOTHING.

    The Chamber of Commerce has convinced ALL of the businesses you mentioned to SHUT UP about ANYTHING negative about Salisbury. Did you hear about Salisbury being the 4th most dangerous city in America, (per capita) from ANYONE other than Salisbury News, NO. How about the massive graffiti Downtown, NO!

    It took MONTHS before the rest of the media was forced to finally come out with it. Now it is even worse. Now the media is used to debate SBYNews articles, like the lawsuits against the SPD Officer and the City. They are used to create "The Council of No's", yet 100% of the funding the Mayor asked for was given and 90% of every piece of legislation was passed by the very people he called the Council of No".

    You are being snowballed by the liberal leadership in Salisbury and Wicomico Coounty, YET YOU IDIOTS KEEP VOTING FOR THESE LIARS AND CHEATERS.

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  13. Yes, Joe, you're right. Liars and cheaters are part of the fabric of Salisbury, as are closet racists and carpetbaggers. It's really too bad that so many of the historically well-respected names in town are now of that character.

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  14. Thank you Wawa!Every time I fill up with gas in the morning some panhandler asks for money.

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  15. Can I bum $5 for gas to fill up my car that broke down just a few miles up the road then catch the bus back to Newark? Also let me get a cigarette.

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  16. One night at around 3AM while I was at that WAWA a guy dressed like Santa Clause came up to me while I was pumping gas.He said he needed $10 to buy enough gas to get back to the North Pole.He seemed legit so I gave it to him.Later I realized I had been taken.Reindeer don't run on gas.Duh.

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  17. people get confused, there is not a No Loitering law. The business owner has to call the police and say, that person right there, I do not want him on my property again. Then the police can advise the person to leave and not come back. If they come back then they can be arrested. They can also put up a no trespassing sign, but what business wants to do that. The business has to initiate that, not the police.

    They can also send a letter from the corp or owner stating that anyone not shopping they wish to have police remove them, so basically an open request for police to act.

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  18. It got to a point where two or three would be leaning on the trash containers, smoking cigarettes, hitting up customers for money on their way in or out. Lots of the same faces every day.
    It seems a lot better now.

    September 17, 2014 at 12:44 PM

    were they drinking coffee too?

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  19. Nope, no coffee, just leaning and smoking.

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  20. Feed them and they will come..

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