By Dick Minzner
N.M. Petroleum Marketers Association Attorney
The New Mexico Environment Department has created and released to the media statistics relating to crimes at convenience stores. These statistics are completely inaccurate. The Journal has quoted these figures in news stories and in an editorial.
The statistics allege 16 homicides, 24 rapes, and 37 kidnappings, hundreds of aggravated assaults and thousands of robberies at convenience stores over a recent five-year period. Purportedly these numbers reflect the crimes committed at about half the convenience stores in the state, so the total statewide figure would be even higher. Consistently the implication has been that convenience store clerks are the principal victims.
However, the statistics developed by the Environment Department do not pertain to crimes at convenience stores. They pertain to crimes called in to the police from telephones at convenience stores, including pay phones. Since the pay phones outside convenience stores are frequently the only pay phones for blocks, they may be used to report crimes committed blocks away.
Between 80 percent and 95 percent of the crimes reported from telephones on convenience store premises appear to be committed elsewhere.
The only centralized location for the reporting of on-the-job injuries suffered by convenience store employees is the Workers' Compensation Administration. Any criminal assault requiring substantial medical treatment, or resulting in a substantial absence from work, must be reported to Workers Comp.
These records show a total of 36 reported injuries to convenience store employees from criminal action over the same recent five-year period. Five of these are truly tragic: three homicides, one rape, and one assault resulting in crippling injuries. The injuries in other cases range all the way down to strains, sprains and mental stress.
The thousands of convenience store robberies tabulated by the Environment Department are imaginary for the same reason as crimes causing injuries: the vast majority of robberies reported on convenience store telephones occurred elsewhere.
The convenience store industry is extremely concerned about both major and minor injuries to employees and has been pursuing policies to reduce their number. However, with at least 700 convenience stores in the state, some level of injuries is probably unavoidable.
Thirty-six injuries to employees over a five-year period amounts to approximately seven per year, or one employee injury per 100 years of convenience store operation. The five tragic injuries over that period of time amounts to one such injury annually, or one for each 700 years of convenience store operation.
These numbers from the Workers' Compensation Administration are consistent with the industry's understanding of its own experience and are a far departure from the Environment Department's unsupportable computations.
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