Slurpee® Policing!
City Manager Bernie Lynch has an interesting post up about a new partnership between 7-11 and the Lowell Police Department.
Dedicated for use by Lowell police officers, the in-store PCNC consists of a work-station with a telephone, brochure display case, fax/copier/printer and suggestion box dedicated for police use. The center gives officers a place to complete paperwork and make phone calls during their shifts in an environment that allows them to interact with the residents of the neighborhoods they patrol.
To announce the opening of the Lowell 7-Eleven® “store-front” PCNC and demonstrate the sophisticated live security monitoring system, Lowell franchisee Sean Gannem, local police and city government officials will attend a special store event Wednesday, May 6, at 11 a.m. The community is invited to attend. As part of the PCNC opening festivities, 7-Eleven will donate $711 to the Lowell Boys & Girls Club, and Slurpee coupons will be distributed to youth during the event and after school.
Seems like a good idea to me! But I’m personally going to lay off the Slurpees®. All that sugar! 
May 6th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Good idea. That store is a crime scene waitng to happen. It has been a problem for awhile now. Not the store’s fault. Slurpees instead of coffee and a donut sounds very healthy.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:18 am
I doubt very much whether this will really make a difference. I suspect that PCNC will be little used because most times area police will be responding to radio calls or patrolling the district. Maybe on late nights after 2 am when the bars close and the district “settles down” there will be time to take advantage of the facilities. Probably the same benefit could be had by just parking the sector cruiser in the lot between calls.
May 9th, 2009 at 2:20 am
You have got to be kidding. We’re now providing a private security service for 7/11. What’s next, naming rights to arrests? Does Dunkin Donuts get the same preferential treatment?
May 10th, 2009 at 8:21 am
This is not a private security force simply for the store. It is a police substation wich is loacted in a very bad part of the city. It just so happens that they placed it in the heart of where the crime takes place, around the 7-11, Westford, Chelmsford streets area. Its not just for 7-11, but for the entire neighborhood.