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Abstract
Excerpts: The well-publicized increase in crime in urban areas of the United States has been a cause of concern to owners, tenants, and managers of wholesale food distribution centers in major cities throughout this country. When excessive crime occurs, the business suffering the loss must raise its prices to compensate for it. This increase is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher food prices. Inasmuch as the Agricultural Marketing Research Institute of the United States Department of Agriculture has been instrumental in designing many of these food centers, this study was undertaken as a followup to determine what is currently being done to prevent crime, and to recommend ways to minimize losses from crime at these facilities. In addition, this report is intended to assist responsible persons in incorporating proper security measures into the design and operating procedures of proposed food centers. This report is based in part on information gathered from nine wholesale food distribution centers located in the eastern part of the United States. They ranged in size from 16 to 146 acres, and each housed from 16 to 120 tenants.