Dodging the Bullets : Arco Resists Dealer Requests to Install Bulletproof Glass

Two recent holdup attempts at Southern California gasoline service stations--one of which ended in a slaying--have boosted efforts by dealers to force Atlantic Richfield Co. to install bullet-resistant glass and other safety features at its facilities in high-crime neighborhoods.

Bullet-resistant glass cages for station attendants have become increasingly common in urban areas around the country in the past decade. But Arco has resisted installing them at its facilities, citing mixed reviews of their effectiveness from security experts.

“They aren’t a definite lifesaver,” Arco spokeswoman Annie Reutinger said.

On July 2, Gonzalo Garcia Alvarez, a 22-year-old Arco attendant in Long Beach, was shot to death in a robbery attempt, the fourth slaying at an Arco facility in the Los Angeles area in the past year.

“He was a great kid,” station owner Frank Cappello said. “I’m devastated.” Cappello said two attendants have quit since the killing, citing fear for their safety.

Some dealers were quick to note that five days after Alvarez was killed, a Mobil Corp. attendant in Gardena was saved by bulletproof glass after being fired on five times by a would-be robber.

“If you go to any Chevron, Shell, Mobil, Texaco or independent--I don’t care in what neighborhood--most of their lessee operations in 24-hour stations operate from bulletproof enclosures with a pass-through drawer,” said Charlie Mulcahy, a Wilmington Arco dealer and board member of the Automotive Trade Organizations of California, which represents 89 of the 1,100 Arco dealers in California, as well as other brand-name operators.

“It’s not unusual that the Arco franchisee is the only one out there without a bulletproof enclosure,” Mulcahy said.

According to the latest survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 4% of all workplace killings occur at service stations. “It’s a very dangerous occupation,” said Guy Toscano, program manager for the bureau’s census of fatal occupational injuries.

However, Arco and many police crime experts and safety consultants say bullet-resistant glass does not always prevent crime at service stations.

“We’ve avoided jumping on the bandwagon for bulletproof glass,” said Arco’s Reutinger. “None of the statistics have shown that it is the cure-all for deterring crime. And the issue is not just to make the cashier safe, but to secure the entire premises.”

Indeed, groups ranging from the National Assn. of Convenience Stores to the LAPD Crime Prevention Unit have studied the matter without issuing clear-cut recommendations.

“What we don’t want is for a bullet-resistant barrier to create a false sense of security, where an employee may try to resist a robber--and maybe not even give up the money,” said Teri Richman, a spokeswoman for the national convenience store group.

Meanwhile, there has never been a systematic study of how effective bullet-resistant enclosures really are.

“It’s true that a bullet-resistant enclosure can thwart some robbery attempts,” said Bill Longacre, a 20-year LAPD officer who has spent the past six years specializing in crime prevention through building and site design. But Longacre says such barriers can also produce “these by-product problems.”

Bullet-resistant glass, he says, can cause a rude customer to become more agitated, for instance. Worse, it has encouraged robbers to force attendants from behind the glass by taking customers hostage.

Longacre admitted, however, that “if I were standing there in a store, I would like to have something between me and an adrenaline-pumping robber.”

Meanwhile, an LAPD survey of 19 homicides during robberies around gas stations, liquor stores and convenience stores over a one-year period in the city of Los Angeles found that most victims were customers, not clerks. “It’s a corporate decision, not a law enforcement decision,” Longacre said.

Policies vary at other brand-name companies. Shell Oil Co. evaluates requests for beefed-up security from its dealers on a site-by-site basis. And Shell pays for bullet-resistant glass when it deems it necessary.

For the past five years, Mobil has had a similar policy, while Texaco is evaluating requests for bullet-resistant glass from several of its dealers but hasn’t yet adopted a formal policy. (No attendants were slain at Shell, Texaco or Mobil stations in Southern California during the past year.)

Arco allows franchise dealers to install bullet-resistant glass if they pay for it themselves--as their contracts call for--and if it meets Arco specifications. The company also recently agreed to pay for a trial of bullet-resistant glass at a Wilmington franchise facility.

The test, however, is to determine how feasible it would be to conduct business with a glass enclosure, not to gather statistics on the enclosure’s crime-thwarting ability.

Arco also conducts regular security surveys of its company-owned and franchise facilities, Reutinger said, to develop improved policies for Arco-owned stations and recommendations for franchise facilities.

As it has after most other slayings, the company has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the July 2 killer. Arco has spent more than $2.2 million nationwide for such rewards since 1978.

But the dealer group considers them less useful than preventive measures. And they believe that Arco’s deep pockets put the company in a better position to pay for security improvements. The group estimates that bullet-resistant glass enclosures run from $10,000 to $35,000 each to install.

“We’ve had members with beatings, pistol whippings--and most of those take place after 11 (p.m.) and before 6 a.m.,” said Janet L. Speelman, executive director of the dealers group, which used to be known as the Southern California Service Station Assn.

Speelman wants Arco to install bullet-resistant kiosks with pass-through drawers in high-crime areas or allow franchisees to close down their convenience store operations without penalty during the most dangerous hours.

Currently, Arco charges 14% in royalties to franchise operators, but discounts that to 11% for those that remain open 24 hours a day--because customer traffic increases significantly when patrons know a facility is always open.

Staying open all night is “an important feature to the bottom line of the store,” Reutinger said.

Reducing the Risk

Robbery is the primary motive for workplace homicide. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health advises:

* Do not work alone at night if you handle money.

* Work behind bulletproof enclosures if possible.

* Install alarm systems.

* Train employees in security practices.

* Provide job counseling for employees.

WHERE WORKPLACE DEATHS OCCUR

Murders by industry for 1992: Hotels and other service jobs: 19% Food stores: 18% Eating and drinking places: 14% Other retail: 13% Taxicabs: 9% Police protection: 5% Gas stations: 4% Other: 18%

Source: Labor Department