Reprinted from http://www.theledger.com/

Lake Alfred Man Arrested in Store Robberies
Friday, August 18, 2006
by Dana Willhoit

LAKELAND -- A Lake Alfred man was arrested at his home Friday night in connection with several Dollar Store and Family Dollar robberies, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers.

The arrest of Morgan De Jesus, 31, at his home at 560 W. Orange St., came a day after the robbery of another Dollar General store, in Brandon. So far, De Jesus has been charged with attempted robbery, but sheriff's detectives are examining whether he may have had a role in a total of a dozen robberies that are thought to be connected.

The Sheriff's Office received a tip that led to his arrest, according to Rodgers.

The Sheriff's Office has recovered a black firearm that they think was used in the robberies, Sheriff Grady Judd said. The thief showed a gun during all the robberies, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Police also recovered a black Dodge Intrepid, which they think was used as a getaway car.

Since the robberies started April 1, police and sheriff's deputies had been given descriptions of the robber, but there was one thing they lacked: surveillance camera images .

That's because there were no surveillance cameras in the stores robbed.

Police and security experts say they would prefer the stores invest in the cameras.

``We do recommend that they have surveillance-type equipment,'' Polk County Sheriff Capt. Mike Pruitt said.

``It can be a deterrent, and it gives great evidence if something does happen.''

Nine of the robberies have been at Dollar General or Family Dollar stores in Polk County, two in Hillsborough County and one in Volusia County.

Tawn Earnest, spokeswoman for Dollar General, did not return phone calls.

But Kiley Rawlins, spokeswoman for Family Dollar, acknowledged that not all Family Dollar stores have video surveillance cameras.

``At least in those cases (in the recent Polk County-area robberies), we didn't have cameras in those stores,'' she said. ``We evaluate each store and the security investment that we make in them. To do that, we look at incidents, history and the location of the store. I think that those stores had traditionally been in low-risk areas.''

Now, in light of the recent robberies, ``we are evaluating our security. I'm not prepared to talk about what we've done.''

The man who robbed the Dollar General in Brandon on Thursday entered the store at 3:48 p.m. with a gun and demanded cash from two clerks who were in an office counting money. Then he ran out the front door, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

Pruitt said it is thought that the Brandon robbery is connected to the other robberies.

Experts disagree on how effective surveillance cameras are as a deterrent.

Rosemary Erickson, a forensic sociologist who has made a career of studying crime, has interviewed thousands of convicted robbers to determine what would and would not deter them from robbing a store.

Surveillance cameras, she said, are fairly low on their list. More effective, she said, are well-lit stores and parking lots, windows clear of posters and advertisements so that people outside can easily see in, and keeping as little cash as possible in the register.

As for surveillance cameras, Erickson said, ``What they (robbers) say is that they're not worried about getting caught later. They're worried about getting caught right now.''

The camera images, however, can aid police with apprehension and conviction of the robbers, Erickson said.

If a store puts in cameras, there should be a monitor up front so that would-be robbers can see that they're being recorded, she said.

Many major retail chains do use surveillance cameras. Margaret Chabris, public relations manager for 7-Eleven, said, ``They're part of an overall package in deterring crime. We have closed-circuit video surveillance cameras in all of our stores.''

Steve Dru, owner of Mid-Florida Audio and Video in Lakeland, said that over the past few years, digital surveillance recording systems have become available and the price has dropped significantly. A system with four cameras, which would cover a 3,000-square-foot store, costs about $2,900 to $3,400, he said.