Tragedy leads to no camping at Cottonwood, AZ Walmart

This situation should have been nipped in the bud before it went terribly bad. The local police should have tossed them out after the first night when it was obvious those people had no intention of making it a one-night temporary stay. It's easy to do, and with prior coordination with the business owners, you don't need to contact them every time to get permission to move them out. With more than 40 years in law enforcement, all of it on the street, 32 years of it as a command officer, I know it is not a difficult situation unless local authorities allow it to get that way.

Somebody mentioned vagrancy laws. They've been unconstitutional for decades. However, there are trespassing laws, disorderly conduct, even littering will work. WalMart and other local businesses, along with the local law enforcement and other government authorities, need to get their stuff together, and professionally and consistently coordinate, monitor, evaluate, and enforce common sense policies for a myriad of situations, this being just one of them. Management by crisis is no longer acceptable.

I've overnighted in 5-10 Walmart lots with no real problems.
Also overnighted in some casino lots. I prefer those over Walmart.
Good security around along with many other rigs. Just feels safer.
Planning a summer trip and the overnighting sections will be at casino lots.
There are a couple good websites detailing locations that allow it. There are enough casinos nationwide that I have found plenty along the route I'm taking.
Some also have free electric or very cheap campgrounds.
Casinocamper.com or americancasinoguide.com are very helpful.

joanne0012 wrote:
Doeesn't this fall under the phrase grandma used to use about "locking the barn door after the horse is stolen"? According to the article, the camping ban had been the store's policy for some time, but had not been enforced.

Because enforcement brings it's own issues. Kicking people out is eventually going to make for some uncomfortable press. The local news will eventually run a report about how the evil big company selectively evicts only the poor people if they only go after things like the suburban full of nutcases. Or, forums like this are going to have threads started about how all the person was doing was protecting the public by getting a few hours of sleep (after all you can't drive sleepy, and that is Walmart's problem) and they were forced back onto the road creating danger for everyone if they enforce it very tightly. It is a no win scenario. Plus no one really likes to be the bad guy who has to enforce rules, so it is easy to turn the blind eye until something bad happens, and in this case the something bad was really really bad.

Doeesn't this fall under the phrase grandma used to use about "locking the barn door after the horse is stolen"? According to the article, the camping ban had been the store's policy for some time, but had not been enforced.

There's a whole subculture of people "stealth-camping" - people who have no homes. Most are probably just down on their luck; some are excited by living off the grid; and some are up to no good (people fleeing the law, mobile meth labs or houses-of-ill-repute come to mind). I'm afraid this overnighting ban will happen more often

dodge guy wrote:
Maybe if the police rolled through the lot a few days sooner and more frequently they would`ve noticed 9 people living in a suburban!

I agree, and as most WalMarts have security in the parking lots, I wonder; where were they?

dodge guy wrote:
Maybe if the police rolled through the lot a few days sooner and more frequently they would`ve noticed 9 people living in a suburban!

The problem is the Walmart lot is private property and unless Walmart asks the police to do something their hands are somewhat tied. I've seen people park in the fire lanes at Walmart, in some cases actually blocking the entrances, and I've complained to both Walmart and the Fire Dept. They both get into finger pointing matches about whose job it is to enforce the law and nothing ever gets done. I think it's a sign of the times that as a society we've given up on enforcing the little laws instead trying to focus on "the bigger picture" using a wide range of excuses - budget, manpower, authority, legal confusion, etc. Unfortunately it creates a mentality of lawlessness - if I can get away with a minor infraction I might be able to get by with something larger.

Maybe if the police rolled through the lot a few days sooner and more frequently they would`ve noticed 9 people living in a suburban!

It's really too bad. But you can't blame Walmart for the response. All it takes in these cases is one lawsuit and it's over. That's the world we live in now and companies have to think of it from many angles.

I'm sure overnighters brought a decent amount of business to Walmart. I know it was nice to run in after an overnight and grab a snack, forgotten items, etc. But they have to weigh the benefits against the liability.

How many people use Wallyworld every year without incident? The percentage is very low of having something happening. I would say your largest risk of RV'ing is the drive to the campground.