by Amanda Cedrone, News Staff

Mayor Thomas Menino announced an initiative Feb. 23 that will provide assessments and resources for security upgrades to convenience store owners in wake of the Feb. 21 killing of a convenience store worker on Dudley Street in Dorchester.
“The shooting of Geraldo Serrano on Sunday morning is outrageous and we cannot allow this type of brazen behavior to be accepted in our city,” Menino said in a press release Feb. 23.
There are three areas included in the convenience store safety initiative, education, increased police presence near convenience stores and store security improvements, said Jay Walsh, director of the mayor’s office of neighborhood services.
Currently, members of the Boston Police Department, the Office of Neighborhood Services and the Office of Business Development are visiting every convenience store in the city of Boston to complete an assessment of each store. The process should take about two and a half more weeks for a total of four weeks, Walsh said.
“We noticed that there are certain precautions that some stores may not have been taking,” Walsh said. “What we discovered is that in a lot of the stores, staff members hadn’t been trained properly on what to do [during a robbery], how to better manage cash flow to make the store less of a target and security systems weren’t operating as well as they could be.”
Walsh said though there has not been an increase in the number of robberies throughout Boston, the violent nature of the crimes has increased. Walsh cited that in addition to the incident on Dudley St., there was a similar incident in Jamaica Plain in December when another clerk was killed.
Store owners, managers and employees can take part in training on how to manage the store and what to do if a robbery occurs.
Jennifer O’Brien, owner of Jen’s Place, a convenience store in Park Plaza, said convenience stores are a target because of their hours and the volume of customers they get. She said she would definitely participate in training if it was offered.
“I think knowledge is power,” O’Brien said. “Making owners and employees aware is a great thing.”
Rachel Sterbenz, a senior communication studies major, said she feels similarly. “I think it’s a great idea,” Sterbenz said. “I hadn’t heard of it before now. I think any measure they can take to beef up safety, especially in a city, is a good one.”
To encourage store owners to improve security, the Office of Neighborhood Services is offering up to a $500 reimbursement per convenience store to obtain a security camera, digital recording device and monitor.
“One of the things we want to make owners aware of is that an intricate camera system isn’t as expensive as anticipated,” said Walsh. “So for $500 you can get an intricate system as a deterrent and it will dramatically help the police.”
Brij Patel, an employee at College Convenience on Huntington Avenue, said he does not think the education aspect of the initiative will be as effective as increased police presence.
“People should always rely on common sense,” Patel said. “When something [like a robbery] happens you give them the money no matter what. Stores should already have a security camera, that’s common sense … The only thing that will help [to prevent robberies] is better police management, if after calling them, they will be here in a minute or two.”
Patel said it can take up to 20 minutes for police to respond to reports of shoplifting at the convenience store.
“When someone shoplifts and it takes 20 minutes for the police to respond, what is that going to do?” Patel said. “The shoplifters are long gone by then. We work hard for our money, and we want to keep it.”