Florida Walgreens accused of racial profiling after black women followed, bags searched after purchases
“As soon as we walked in the store, we kept hearing the alerts, ‘Security check the floor,’ '' one of the women told a local news station.
In a continuation of indignities suffered by black folks who are jus trying to shop at retail outlets, two Florida women say they were racially profiled at a Walgreens store in Miramar.
Crystal Davis and Santanna Neal say they were shopping at Walgreens to get beauty supplies Tuesday night when they noticed something was off, ABC 10 News reports.
The women said they were being followed and watched closely by an employee as they scanned the aisles for what they wanted to buy.
“As soon as we walked in the store, we kept hearing the alerts, ‘Security check the floor,’ ” Davis ABC 10.
Crystal Davis and Santanna Neal reportedly heard security alerts over the speakers as soon as they entered the store.https://t.co/qP9HKnJRji
— BET News (@BETNews) June 14, 2018
But the treatment did not end there. After the women made their purchases, three police officers rushed them outside as they walked to their car, Davis said.
The police said they’d received a report of someone stealing inside the store, Davis said.
“How?” Davis said she told the officers. “Here’s our bags. Here’s our receipt.”
The officers searched their bags, did not find any stolen items and told the women they could leave, according to Davis.
The response of the Miramar Police Department was that it was aware of the incident and offered that the women voluntarily provided their bags to be searched, Local 10 News reported.
Walgreens has reached out to the women, but Davis said she will never shop their again.
Walgreens issued a statement Thursday.
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“First and foremost, we firmly believe everyone should be welcome and treated with respect at our stores, and we’ll continue working to make that happen,” the statement read. “Our policies strictly prohibit any form of discrimination or racial profiling, and any such occurrence will not b tolerated. We’ve been in contact with our customer. We take this matter very seriously and are sorry it happened. We continue to investigate this issue so we can learn how this happened and to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
Davis was not impressed.
“It was like a profiling situation from the very beginning,” Davis said.
Walgreens is based in Deerfield, Ill., outside of Chicago.
