Delivery drivers in the South Bay say they're increasingly worried about becoming robbery targets.
It's happening enough that at least one company, Core Mart, is now hiring armed guards to escort its drivers.
NBC Bay Area contacted Core Mart's parent company, but they declined to explain why they're now providing the guards.
San Jose police said they saw a slight increase in the robbery of delivery trucks two years ago, but said they have not seen a spike lately.
Flavio Lopez works for another delivery company and said he wishes he had a guard or at least a second person to help him keep an eye on the merchandise. Lopez hasn’t been robbed, but he has had run-ins downtown.
"Stuff you gotta deal with downtown," he said. "It is what it is."
Darrell Cortez, a retired San Jose police officer who now works in corporate and retail security, said, "Unfortunately, this is what society has become now with armed guards guarding merchandise from the retailer because there seems to be a sense of lawlessness in our society."
"It's very unfortunate," he added. "You and I pay for it. The consumer pays for it on the backend because prices increase because the merchandise is going out the door and no one is stopping the bad guys because of the threat of violence."
Cortez said if one company is using guards to protect drivers, others are likely considering it to keep their drivers and products from being targeted.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
