Gut reaction to police officers inside the CVS today.

Dallas, Texas
July 15, 2016 1:28pm CST
When my wife and I went inside a local CVS pharmacy to purchase items and pick up some prescription medicines there walking behind us came 6 police officers, 3 or more walked to the back of the store, towards the pharmacy and 3 of the police officers remained at the front entrance. I had a gut reaction. I automatically went into panic mode. I told my wife to follow me to the front aisle and just stand and wait. I was fully prepared for some maniac to, at any moment start shooting up the place. But nothing happened. I then told my wife, "Maybe there has been a person shoplifting and the police are here to arrest them. But why so many officers?" It stands to reason that when you see a large number of police officers fully dressed in their uniforms, on duty, walking into a CVS store that there might be reason to go into panic mode. But as we stood there and I was getting more anxious by the minute, a store manager walked by. There was another woman standing there with us, unwilling to go anywhere as she too was apprehensive. I asked the store floor supervisor what was going on and she replied, "Oh it's nothing, There's is nothing to worry about. The police just needed to use the bathroom, that's all." I asked if it was safe to go about shopping and proceed to the pharmacy to pick up my medicine and she said it was perfectly safe to do so. Was my reaction to the 6 officers irrational or was it more typical, in light of the recent shootings and media about gunmen and shooters over the past several days? Let me know. All I can say is, my blood pressure went up a bit and I was still in panic mode for the next hour as we went to mail a letter at Tom Thumb and I went inside to buy a medium coffee at Starbucks. I am only just now calming down and that coffee didn't do as well for being a calming agent if you know what I mean. Coffee from Starbucks is absolutely the strongest. Usually I don't drink coffee around noon but today I just needed something to make me feel normal and coffee is psychologically a calming activity for me. But the idea of those 6 officers in the CVS. What a thing. By the way, my wife observed the police all going from the restroom area out the back of the store where the warehouse entrance is located. That seems a bit odd to me for just taking a bathroom break. I wonder if that store manager was being totally up front with us. Hmm. Going backwards in time to 2015, December: There was an attempt at that same location on December 26th, 2015, when a truck did a smash and grab but only managed to smash their truck and damage the front end because the police came and the guy in the pick up drove away without any money but the police did not catch him. That is the bad part of it all. So that location has been hit by smash and grabbers as well as shoplifters over the past few years. But shoplifting is not unusual in many parts of our city. They have a special private interrogation room near the front entrance of every Walmart where suspects and policemen fill out forms and have shoplifters answer questions and so forth. As for Walmart, just a few nights ago a Walmart employee wielded a knife on two victims and was knocked down by two police officers in the parking lot and hand cuffed. I have been lately in a constant state of unrest.
6 people like this
8 responses
@Lolaze (5093)
• St. Louis, Missouri
15 Jul 16
I would've gotten very worried too. That is a lot of police officers to walk into a store like that.
3 people like this
• Dallas, Texas
15 Jul 16
I seriously think some kind of crime happened but the manager would not tell us what took place just that it was okay to proceed about shopping and that the pharmacy was open and safe for me to pick up my medicines.
@GardenGerty (157553)
• United States
15 Jul 16
In light of recent events everywhere, and the fact that you did not know, your panic was probably justified. Now you know that the police in your area have a good relationship with the pharmacy and it should be one of the safest places you can go.
3 people like this
• Dallas, Texas
15 Jul 16
Indeed you are correct. I will go to that location with the confidence that the men and women in blue are in our corner.
@nonersays (3329)
• United States
15 Jul 16
You can usually tell by the demeanor of the officers if there is real reason to worry. Recently we had a ton of officers in the store I work for, and all the co-workers and some customers were getting worried, but they were only in there looking to get gag-gifts for a party they were having. I can't say I blame you though. There has been so much hostility from the police and towards the police that it is not unreasonable to feel anxious in the presence of a uniform.
3 people like this
• Dallas, Texas
15 Jul 16
Thanks
1 person likes this
@KristenH (33351)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
15 Jul 16
I would be scared and out of my mind.
1 person likes this
@KristenH (33351)
• Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
15 Jul 16
@lookatdesktop That's so true. Shoplifters is a minor crime. But I'm glad there's no need for violence. I agree with you.
1 person likes this
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
15 Jul 16
I think your reaction was the same as a lot of ours would have been, scary times we live in.
2 people like this
• Dallas, Texas
15 Jul 16
And to think that my gut reaction was like that. I was not there at ground zero in 2001 in New York but the repercussions stayed with me for a very long time. And now with what went down in Downtown Dallas the preceding Thursday evening during a quiet protest and the terrorist attack in NICE in the South-Eastern corner of France and a recent knifing at a Walmart store by of all people, a Walmart employee. I think I will be on alert status in my own mind in hyper mode for the foreseeable future until something major happens in a more positive way. But what?
1 person likes this
@paigea (35701)
• Canada
16 Jul 16
I would wonder if I saw a group of officers. But then there are so many reasons for there to be a group together; so I would tell myself to stay calm and keep watching. Best to be ready, things do happen.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35701)
• Canada
19 Jul 16
@lookatdesktop No, I am not either.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (36451)
• Toccoa, Georgia
19 Jul 16
I totally understand how you have been feeling. I feel the same way. My neighbor has a son who is in law enforcement. He is a State Trooper, and I pray God will protect him. He has a wife and two young sons (one of those sons has a heart problem & has been in and out of the hospital). This guy is a good guy trying to keep the town safe. I pray for all our other law enforcement in my town.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
19 Jul 16
Me too. I only want things to get better and safer for everyone. I do feel that there is a light at the end of the very long dark tunnel but the tunnel may in fact bend around several times before the end, metaphorically speaking.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Jul 16
Seeing that many police officers in CVS would have made me go into panic mode too. I think more was going on that they didn't want their customers to know about.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
19 Jul 16
Yes this is probably correct. Thanks for your comment.