BOZEMAN — During the day, parking lots around Bozeman are bustling, as night falls, some workers say they’re more cautious.
“There has been a lot of weird stuff happening here,” said Emmeline Door, who works at a gas station near Walmart.
Door said crime is something she thinks about on the job.
“I’ve walked around the corner, there’s been dudes getting shot at and I’ve seen them run around,” she said.
Door believes crime has become more noticeable in the area.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, I’m born and raised in Bozeman, Montana, so seeing all of this, it’s a little ‘Oh what is going on!’ It’s been getting busier and everything, like there’s more people moving here.”
Bozeman Police Patrol Lieutenant Anthony Hutchings said while crime may feel more visible, statistically the numbers have remained about the same.
“A byproduct of our community is growing and we have a lot more people coming in and out of Bozeman every day,” Hutchings said.
On Tuesday, police responded to an armed robbery outside Applebee’s, where they say a man pointed a gun into an employee’s car window and demanded his phone.
James Graham, who works at a gas station across the street, said incidents like that put him on edge.
“It makes me feel like anything could happen at a point and you must be on your best looking out for others and yourself,” Graham said.
Hutchings advised people to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right in a parking lot at night and to travel in groups.
WATCH: Are any of Bozeman's parking lots actually safe?
“Stay in your car, probably leave the area if you feel like it’s necessary,” he said.
And while some parking lots have emergency call boxes, Hutchings recommends relying on your phone to call 911.
“That’s probably going to be more of an accurate location for us than a call box that we are generally responding to from a third-party person that is not there,” he said.
Still, Hutchings emphasized that most parking lots in Bozeman remain safe.
“For the most part, all of our parking lots are very safe. It’s a very safe community,” he said.
