For the fourth year running, a Wal-Mart SuperCenter on the Southwest Side attracted more police attention than any other single location in the city.

Police responded to 908 calls from the store in 2005. The number is down 24 percent from 2004, when police responded to 1,195 calls from the store, according to Tucson Police Department data obtained by the Arizona Daily Star.

Nearly 45 percent of calls from the store last year were for shoplifting. Police set up special deployments during the winter holidays to curb shoplifting.

"Because they're on the Top 10 doesn't mean they're dangerous places to be," said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police spokesman. "In fact, being on the Top 10 could mean it's a safe place to be because people care enough to call police."

Wal-Mart's aggressive security staff doesn't hesitate to call police, he said. And Sharon Weber, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said store employees meet monthly with police and other retailers to discuss crime-prevention strategies. The store staff also patrols parking lots, monitors video surveillance systems and fills out forms for officers to later cite suspects.

"We work closely with the TPD to ensure that they spend a minimal amount of time at our stores," she said.

The chances of becoming a victim — such as having a vehicle or property stolen or getting into a traffic accident — are small considering the large number of people that pass through the Top 10 spots daily. But some petty crimes can lead to more serious incidents listed among the data, including assaults, robberies and shootings.

The city's two largest malls, Tucson Mall, with 854 calls, and Park Place, with 859, made the list again as they have for the last five years.

The total for each mall was 100 more than in 2004. Ted Newkirk, senior general manager at Tucson Mall, declined to comment on the rising number of calls, saying it could "compromise security efforts."

Making its first appearance on the Top 10 list at No. 5 with 635 calls in 2005 is an AM/PM gas station and convenience store on South Campbell Avenue near East Irvington Road.

Store workers may be proactive, Robinson said, because records show many of the calls to the store were made before a crime happened. In some cases, officer presence after employees saw something suspicious may have prevented a crime, he said.

Police generated most of the calls from the intersections on the list. Calls on traffic accidents and patrols for traffic enforcement make the numbers high, Robinson said.

The Eastside Place Apartments, 1800 S. Pantano Parkway, returned to the Top 10 list in 2005 with 506 calls. The complex hadn't been on the list since 2001, when police were called to the complex 653 times.

About 25 percent of calls to police from the complex were about disturbances. There also were 17 calls about auto theft and 31 calls about larceny.

Managers at the complex and owners with Wasatch Property Management in Utah could not be reached for comment.