Nashville businesses see less crime after going cashless
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Businesses at The Nations in northwest Nashville are no longer seeing a string of burglaries. It’s tough to tell the reason behind this change, with businesses not seeing a break-in for about a month now, their longest gap.
However, one business owner tells FOX 17 News he thinks it has to do with the form of payment he no longer accepts.
This became the harsh reality for the Silo Market and surrounding businesses, falling victims of back-to-back break-ins with the suspected burglar heading straight for one thing: Cash.
Luke Watson said, “All three times they were just going after the cash. The third time they took the entire safe."
This prompted Luke Watson’s business to go cashless. However, Watson ran into problems with a Tennessee lawmaker fighting to pass a bill to keep businesses from going cashless.
Bud Hulsey says, “Currency always affords the maximum amount of liberty, and the maximum amount of privacy. When you do away with it then you don’t have either one of those.”
Last month Hulsey told FOX 17 News he was worried, as more businesses were going cashless.
He expressed concerns that we would eventually turn into a communist society. And as a former cop, Hulsey didn’t think a sign like this would detour a burglar. Watson disagrees.
Watson says, "And it’s gone away so I respectfully disagree that it hasn’t fixed the problem. I think it has fixed the problem. Robbers can read as well. And they can read the sign that says cashless.”
FOX 17 News reached out to Hulsey Tuesday for a comment on this, but did not hear back in time for deadline.
The owner of Harding House Brewery also credited the change in crime to his business going cashless and ramping up security measures.
"I'm hoping that our local businesses here in The Nations can learn from this and hopefully detour any other break in’s.”
It’s still unknown who the suspected burglar is, but Watson tells FOX 17 News that he’s given police all surveillance footage.
This is an ongoing investigation.
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