By Scott Edger
Little Apple Post
The Hy-Vee supermarket chain announced its new retail security program Wednesday.
Only a handful of Hy-Vee stores have the new officers, but the chain will slowly add them to other stores in its eight-state market.
Hy-Vee retail security leaders worked alongside law enforcement partners to develop corporate training for security personnel.
Hy-Vee officials say security personnel will be armed with a taser as well as a handgun and have extensive de-escalation training. They are intended as a visual deterrent to criminal activity and violence.
"Across the country, we’re seeing an increase in criminal activity in retail locations,” said Hy-Vee Vice President of Security Jamie Sipes. “Hy-Vee made the decision to have a forward-facing, uniformed security program that includes all the tools that an officer would need to keep employees and customers safe.”
The new Hy-Vee officers are not yet in Manhattan. Company officials say the chain does not necessarily intend to have a security officer in every store, and there are no concrete implementation dates for specific stores.
The company says adding security is intended to foster a safe, comfortable environment and increase security for customers and employees.
Rather than posting at store entrances, security personnel will walk the aisles and interact with customers.
“These officers will help provide another layer of safety and security for our customers,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee’s president and chief operating officer. “They will work alongside our store employees to deliver the same helpful smiles and outstanding service everyone expects at their local store.”
According to the company, the officers will also be a resource for customers, helping them locate items or services inside the store.
Two Manhattan Hy-Vee shoppers say they would welcome security in the stores.
“There’s so much craziness right out in public anymore,” said Manhattan resident Maggie Aistrum, “and you never know why or where.”
Fellow shopper Esperanza Holt said she moved here from the San Diego area two years ago, and had seen armed security in many retail stores there for years.
“They were the only stores I wanted to go to,” Holt said. “I felt better if there was someone other than myself and the clerk. I think shoplifting and people getting things stolen out of their cars is really getting bad, so anything to scare them off is a good idea.”
Aistrum and Holt both noted that they always felt safe and had never experienced anything dangerous in the Manhattan Hy-Vee store.
In stores with security staff already in place, the company has a mix of third-party and in-house officers.
The focus of health and security is not a wholly new step for the company. Tina Potthoff, senior vice president for communications, said Hy-Vee has “long worked with third-party security contractors or off-duty law enforcement that work in a security capacity throughout our eight-state region. Our goal with this team is to create a consistent look and approach to customer service and security across all of our stores.”
Sipes said that many of their new security personnel have prior law enforcement experience and come to the position with about 1400 hours of crisis-intervention and de-escalation training.
"They are an extension of our legendary customer service within Hy-Vee and ensure the safety of our customers and our employees,” he said. “They are not there to interrupt anyone’s rights.”
News outlets in Minnesota report the grocery chain has recently added armed security to a relatively new store in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, as well as other locations in the state.
A Prairie Village Hy-Vee gas station was the victim of an armed robbery in July.
While there have been isolated incidents like any other business, Potthoff said the company has not seen an increase in dangerous incidents in its stores.