“Police come, take videos, fingerprints, and go, and nothing happens,” says frustrated shop owner
A frustrated retail operator who experienced five successful and one unsuccessful burglary in the last five months laments the rising spate in retail crime in recent months – a sentiment that is echoed by many other frontline retail operators.
Krishna Kumar Pusarla (known popularly as KK) and his wife Sri Devi Pusarla were shocked to receive a phone call late in the night of Tuesday-Wednesday (March 22-23) from the police warning them that a break-in was attempted at their Grey Lyn based liquor store.
Fortunately, this time the attempt in the break-in was unsuccessful, unlike the five successful ones in the last five months, yet the phone call had triggered the pain of discomfort, stress and sense of desperation that follows every incident of ram-raid.
“Every time there is a phone call late in the night, a sense of fear and discomfort seems to grips us, as all our memories about post-ram raids returns, of which there are many,” Sri said with a sense of dejection.
When the Indian Weekender visited their store to speak with them about the repeated harrowing experience that they have gone in the last few months, the owner-couple were busy in replacing the expensive locks and planning on what more they could do in front of the shop to prevent any drive-in raid into the shop.
They had break-ins with ram-raids, a car-jack-in, and had already installed a metallic cage on one side of the shop and placed a protective solid iron jacket on the entrance to possibly block any future attempt of ramming in by a car.
Yet they were standing there in front of the shop and contemplating if they need to expeditiously get permission from the Council to put some kind of stone bollocks to disincentivise any future attempt of car-ramming in - that’s the level of desperation and anxiety the owner couple who owns few other liquor stores in West Auckland that are facing similar level of spurt in retail crime.
On being asked how the police’s immediate response after any such previous robbery was, Sri, with a sigh of disbelief, “Police come, take videos, take fingerprints, and go, and nothing happens.”
“This remains more or less the same after every break-in incidence,” KK added.
Insurance cost becomes prohibitive.
Debunking a popular misconception that insurance cover can help in bearing the cost of loss of goods and stocks and the repair that is often in the league of tens of thousands of dollars, KK said, “In the last two break-ins, I had to bear $22,000 from my pocket.”
“If we have to go to insurance provider five times in five months, then not only, we risk a steep increase in premiums but also a risk of an outright rejection of insurance claims– which would be acutely detrimental of my business,” KK said.
Emotional and physical stress
Adding to these woes is the stress of managing the first few days and nights immediately after the break-in had happened.
“The first thing is immediate clean-up required, which in many cases in intense physical work, and accompanied with repair work of doors and walls that have been demolished incurring immediate cost to the business.”
“This is followed by the closure of business for many more days, which brings lesser revenue while the cost keeps on escalating,” KK said.
“This needs to stop, and the needs of victims should be kept ahead of everyone else,” KK said.
A frustrated retail operator who experienced five successful and one unsuccessful burglary in the last five months laments the rising spate in retail crime in recent months – a sentiment that is echoed by many other frontline retail operators.
Krishna Kumar Pusarla (known popularly as KK) and his...
A frustrated retail operator who experienced five successful and one unsuccessful burglary in the last five months laments the rising spate in retail crime in recent months – a sentiment that is echoed by many other frontline retail operators.
Krishna Kumar Pusarla (known popularly as KK) and his wife Sri Devi Pusarla were shocked to receive a phone call late in the night of Tuesday-Wednesday (March 22-23) from the police warning them that a break-in was attempted at their Grey Lyn based liquor store.
Fortunately, this time the attempt in the break-in was unsuccessful, unlike the five successful ones in the last five months, yet the phone call had triggered the pain of discomfort, stress and sense of desperation that follows every incident of ram-raid.
“Every time there is a phone call late in the night, a sense of fear and discomfort seems to grips us, as all our memories about post-ram raids returns, of which there are many,” Sri said with a sense of dejection.
When the Indian Weekender visited their store to speak with them about the repeated harrowing experience that they have gone in the last few months, the owner-couple were busy in replacing the expensive locks and planning on what more they could do in front of the shop to prevent any drive-in raid into the shop.
They had break-ins with ram-raids, a car-jack-in, and had already installed a metallic cage on one side of the shop and placed a protective solid iron jacket on the entrance to possibly block any future attempt of ramming in by a car.
Yet they were standing there in front of the shop and contemplating if they need to expeditiously get permission from the Council to put some kind of stone bollocks to disincentivise any future attempt of car-ramming in - that’s the level of desperation and anxiety the owner couple who owns few other liquor stores in West Auckland that are facing similar level of spurt in retail crime.
On being asked how the police’s immediate response after any such previous robbery was, Sri, with a sigh of disbelief, “Police come, take videos, take fingerprints, and go, and nothing happens.”
“This remains more or less the same after every break-in incidence,” KK added.
Insurance cost becomes prohibitive.
Debunking a popular misconception that insurance cover can help in bearing the cost of loss of goods and stocks and the repair that is often in the league of tens of thousands of dollars, KK said, “In the last two break-ins, I had to bear $22,000 from my pocket.”
“If we have to go to insurance provider five times in five months, then not only, we risk a steep increase in premiums but also a risk of an outright rejection of insurance claims– which would be acutely detrimental of my business,” KK said.
Emotional and physical stress
Adding to these woes is the stress of managing the first few days and nights immediately after the break-in had happened.
“The first thing is immediate clean-up required, which in many cases in intense physical work, and accompanied with repair work of doors and walls that have been demolished incurring immediate cost to the business.”
“This is followed by the closure of business for many more days, which brings lesser revenue while the cost keeps on escalating,” KK said.
“This needs to stop, and the needs of victims should be kept ahead of everyone else,” KK said.
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