I don't think the OP will see your reply, he has not been seen here in 5 years. Fun topic though.
What it really comes down to is Walmart being too cheap to get a business band radio license(s). Their choice to use throwaway radios in an unlicensed band and avoid the hassle of dealing with a radio tech in every state, rich as they are, does not give them ultimate claim to the channel. Unlicensed operators (Walmart) are subject to the interference of other legitimate users, and the OP was (type acceptance aside) a legitimate user simply making a radio contact.
If the Walmart execs had half a brain, they would switch to one of the Motorola radios pre-programmed for UHF color dot channels reserved for business use. They require a cheaply attained license which would keep the parking lot baofeng users in the illegal realm while still maintaining the throw-away nature of the radios to avoid costly service technicians. And I am fairly sure the FCC would be cool with Walmart, as a whole, getting the business license, instead of one for each location.
If the OP was still here, I'd tell him to go back and give that cop a piece of his mind and a copy of the FCC regulations. And while he was in town, may as well stop by Taco Bell and start telling customers "We are sold out of everything except pink tacos", because nearly all fast-food radio licenses expired in the 90's and nobody ever renews them. The reality is that the RF rebels you may find here are actually the ones that follow the rules more closely. It's the big corporations that do not and shenanigans like that force their compliance (or they cannot complain). Why should I be expected to adhere to the rules when the people making all the money, the ones whom these rules are designed to ultimately serve, do not?
If I pick a 150MHz frequency that is not being used around here and set up a 50w repeater for the family with a couple mobile units, the FCC would hang me up by my toes and beat every single penny out of my pockets, and each of my family members caught using it too. But if a multi-million dollar cement/asphalt company with 3 high-powered repeaters and hundreds of mobile units lets their license go on expired for decades, nobody says a thing.
