Some New Jersey supermarkets are hiring armed guards, report says

Your eyes may not be deceiving you. According to a published report, some New Jersey grocery stores have hired armed guards to help keep order during these frenzied times.

According to the Burlington County Times, ShopRites across Burlington County have hired security guards, some armed, to keep an eye on unruly shoppers and to enforce item limits. The paper reports that none of the stores had a security guard on Friday but that all five stores in Burlington County now have at least one.

ShopRite did not confirm to the paper that they had hired more security, but according to the paper’s Facebook page guards have been spotted at grocery stores.

It seems kind of creepy, but, unfortunately, not everyone can be counted on to remain calm during a crisis. My daughter works at a grocery store and her description of some shoppers’ behavior is really disheartening. Hopefully armed guards at grocery stores (and other places) will soon be just a memory of a turbulent time. Having guards at stores is certainly not rare, but it is interesting that the fie in question didn’t have any last week and now they all do.

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