Fast Food and Crime

I am currently reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, a fascinating book that I wholeheartedly recommend.* Among the many disturbing discussions in the book (e.g., about the diabolical enterprise of marketing fast food to toddlers and young children -- including advertising in public schools -- in an effort to make them life-long customers, or the long history of union-busting tactics used by fast food corporations) is one about fast food-related crime, especially robbery.

First, Schlosser draws upon elements of routine activities theory (though he does not explicitly mention this or any other criminological theory) to explain why fast food restaurants are such common targets for robbery:

America's fast food restaurants are now more attractive to armed robbers than convenience stores, gas stations, or banks. Other retail businesses increasingly rely on credit card transactions, but fast food restaurants still do almost all of their business in cash....[and] often have thousands of dollars on the premises....And the same features that make these restaurants so convenient -- their location near intersections and highway off-ramps, even their drive-through windows -- facilitate a speedy getaway.

Second, he also identifies the structural underpinnings of fast food robberies committed by employees:

The same demographic groups widely employed at fast food restaurants -- the young and the poor -- are also responsible for much of the nation's violent crime. According to industry studies, about two-thirds of the robberies at fast food restaurants involve current or former employees. The combination of low pay, high turnover, and ample cash in the restaurant often leads to crime...The same anger that causes most petty theft, the same desire to strike back at an employer perceived as unfair, can escalate into armed robbery. Restaurant managers are usually, but not always, the victims of fast food crimes.

Finally, and most alarmingly, the author describes how the fast food industry has vigorously challenged proposed federal safety regulations designed to prevent workplace violence through situational crime prevention strategies:

[OSHA] was prompted [to issue the proposed guidelines], among other things, by the fact that homicide had become the leading cause of workplace fatalities among women...OSHA recommended, for example, that late-night retailers improve visibility within their stores and make sure their parking lots were well lit. The National Restaurant Association, along with other industry groups, responded by enlisting over one hundred congressmen to oppose any OSHA guidelines on retail violence. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that many of these congressmen had recently accepted donations from the NRA and the National Association of Convenience Stores.

Schlosser closes this discussion of fast-food crime by observing that although fast food chains have invested in tighter security measures (e.g., surveilence cameras, drop-safes, burglar alarms, etc.), "raising wages and making a committment to workers will do more to cut crime than investing in hidden cameras."

Intersting stuff, eh? It really is a fascinating book, and I was especially interested to read -- and pleasantly surprised by -- Schlosser's analysis of fast food crime.

P.S. Difficult though it was, I resisted the temptation to use a pic of the Hamburglar in this post.

*I bought this book along with The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I will start reading once I finish Fast Food Nation. Something tells me that I will be very happy to be a vegetarian after reading these two books...