Black Friday 2009 Security Alert: Safety drills are already starting

The day after Thanksgiving is both the best shopping day of the year or the worst. Combine a store offering its lowest prices all year with a crowd of anxious, cash-strapped consumers who've been standing in line for many pre-dawn hours, and you're asking for trouble.

Last year, we saw how quickly things can get out of hand, when a Walmart customer was trampled to death in Valley Stream, New York, during a Black Friday sale. There isn't any hard data on the number of injuries on Black Friday, but sadly, that wasn't an isolated incident, even for Walmart: Shoppers at the retailer have been hurt in stampedes near Grand Rapids, Michigan; another in Columbus, Ohio, reportedly took an elbow to the face. Black Friday rarely seems to pass without some scuffle or incident.