A California police chief is addressing his department's messaging around policing grocery stores in the wake of SNAP benefits potentially being halted on Nov. 1.
In an Oct. 28 Facebook post, the Barstow Police Department wrote that it was "taking proactive steps to support our community" in the wake of the shutdown and possible SNAP benefits lapse, including "conducting extra patrols around local grocery stores, convenience stores, and shopping centers" to "help ensure the safety of residents, customers, and business owners."
Negative reactions to the post were swift, with some asking why the department was not more focused on helping food insecure community members and others accusing the department of targeting already vulnerable people.
Barstow Police Chief Christopher Kirby told ABC News in a phone call this week that his department was simply looking out for residents and that no extra officers would be deployed in the community.
"The intent was to let the community know that we were aware of what was going on, and it was our plan to be out there protecting the community," Kirby stated, referring to the department's Facebook post.
He said the department's intent was to keep officers informed of the ongoing situation in a way that protects the community, and not to target any particular group of people.
In its Facebook post last week, the Barstow Police Department claimed the extra patrols were "not in response to any specific incident, but are a preventive measure to maintain public safety, deter theft, and reassure the community that law enforcement is present and ready to help."
In the comments section, some Facebook users criticized the measure, suggesting alternative ideas to help the community.
"You should have food baskets ready to hand out, the ppl would appreciate that and feel like the police are with them instead of against," one person commented.
Another person wrote, "You could be handling [sic] out food but you're going to make sure the Most Vulnerable People don't steal. Great message."
Others were supportive of the increased patrols, with one person writing, "The police do not give out free food! The police are protecting businesses. There are other nonprofit organizations in the community who provide food: churches, food banks, etc. Thank you, Barstow, for doing this!"
The Los Angeles Police Department, which serves the heart of the Greater Los Angeles region, of which Barstow is a part, told ABC News it has no plans to pursue increased police presence around grocery stores ahead of Nov. 1. (Barstow is not under LAPD jurisdiction.)
However, the Barstow police are not alone in considering special measures ahead of the potential SNAP benefits lapse: Across the country, in Columbus, Ohio, one retailer had a similar idea, but ultimately reversed course.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, a Dollar General retail store in downtown Columbus arranged for its doors and windows to be boarded up in order to prevent potential theft, come Nov. 1. According to the outlet, the boards, which were up on Monday, Oct. 27, had been taken down by Tuesday, Oct. 28.
ABC News has reached out to Dollar General for comment.
A statement to ABC News, Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI - The Food Industry Association, said, "Retailers will take steps they deem necessary to maintain safety in their stores, however, the real solution needed lies in swift federal action: Congress must act quickly to end the shutdown and restore stability for millions of households."
FMI works with the food industry to "advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply," according to its website.
SNAP benefits could cease on Nov. 1 if the government shutdown, which is nearing the one-month mark, continues, according to the Department of Agriculture. The Trump administration has said it won't tap into a federal contingency fund that would keep the benefits flowing through part of November.
The lapse in funding would affect around 42 million Americans.
Among the low-income Americans on SNAP are 16 million children bracing for the potential freeze in food assistance. Due to the shutdown, food banks and other organizations across the country have scaled up efforts and called on their surrounding communities to help those in need of critical nutritional assistance.
Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot said in an Oct. 24 statement that the government should release SNAP funds "without delay," noting that "families everywhere are on the brink of, or have already been forced to make, impossible choices between food and other necessities like housing and health care."
"The most challenging and heartbreaking situation for staff members and volunteers is when the pantry shelves are empty, and they must turn people away -- veterans, seniors, families with young children," she wrote. "Yet, with increasing demand and the high cost of food, this is already the harsh reality for so many and, without immediate action, will become a reality for countless more people across the country."
Many SNAP recipients have echoed those sentiments.
"I'm going to be waiting to pay my electricity bill and also my internet bill," Martina Santos, 67, who lives in the Bronx in New York City, told ABC News previously.
Santos, herself a board member and volunteer at West Side Campaign Against Hunger, which helps New Yorkers access emergency food, said she receives about $290 a month in SNAP benefits.
"I have four kids. I don't want to ask for help [from] my family. They have their own family. They got their own bills. I don't want to be, like, on top of them, 'I need help. I need help. I need help,'" she said.
Jenna, 37, a SNAP recipient and mother of four from Oklahoma, who asked that her last name not be used for privacy reasons, told ABC News previously that she works a full-time job but sometimes has to miss work because two of her children have disabilities.
She said criticism and unfair judgment of SNAP recipients online is not rooted in reality.
"I'm on Facebook. I see all the posts right now that, 'It shouldn't matter that SNAP's going away, because all these people could just go get jobs,'" she said. "And I stay out of it, but I work a full-time job, and I can't make ends meet because of the needs of my children."
"I was definitely planning that the SNAP benefits would help through November," she added, noting that if benefits cease on Nov. 1, "I'm going to have hungry kids that are used to getting their berries and their cheese, their yogurt, their healthy snacks, and I'm not going to have the extra for them to snack plus eat breakfast, lunch and dinner."
ABC News' Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
