Malls Assess Terror Threats
The specter of terror against shopping centers was raised recently following news that authorities had received a threat on malls in West Los Angeles.
The threat abated when police captured the man who had made the threat and determined he had no ties to international terrorist groups, but the question of mall safety remains.
Many shoppers, retailers and security experts question whether malls even place on terrorists’ hit lists.
“I’d say the threat is low to nil,” said Elsa Lee, chief executive officer of Advantage SCI, an El Segundo, Calif.–based security consultant company. Shopping centers don’t have the significance of other places targeted by terrorists, such as Disneyland. Their targets must have symbolism for millions of people, not just thousands, so the chances of them going after a mall are low.”
However, the threat against malls seemed very real on April 29 when the Los Angeles Police Department received a call from a man claiming to be a member of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda. The man threatened to bomb an unnamed shopping mall near the Federal Building in Westwood.
The caller, Zameer Mohamed, a Tanzanian national, was arrested on May 4 by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Border Patrol for making the threats and making false statements to the police.
After arresting him in Montana, authorities determined that Mohamed was not connected to a terrorist group. The police said the 23-year-old placed the calls from a Canadian motel, where he had stayed after having an argument with a girlfriend.
Retailers and consumers have speculated about whether a terrorist attack could hit shopping centers in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Security expenditures by shopping centers generally have increased since 2002, when malls spent on average $1.30 per square foot for security, according to a survey conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers in New York.
Like every other shopping center executive interviewed for this article, Gene Thompson, vice president of security for the Santa Monica, Calif.–based Macerich Co., said his company has beefed up its security plans since Sept. 11.
“We have a very detailed plan in place; we change our levels of security very frequently based on intelligence we receive from the Department of Homeland Security and FBI. We don’t rule out anything,” Thompson said.
Macerich owns the Westside Pavilion, one of the Los Angeles shopping centers considered a target during the recent threat.
Various levels of readiness
Thompson discussed having a range of readiness, from increasing the presence of security officers to searching the bags of people entering malls or even closing the shopping center.
The Beverly Center in Los Angeles restricts access to alternate mall entries—such as rooftops, delivery zones and loading docks—and also partners with law enforcement to watch for suspicious people or objects in the mall, said Beverly Center spokesman Giancarlo Giurini.
Lee said the most shopping centers can do is adequately train guards to use equipment such as security cameras, be alert for suspicious people or objects, and practice an evacuation plan to be used if the mall is attacked.
Since most shopping centers do not match criteria for international terrorists’ political objectives, Lee suggested mall security should be vigilant for homegrown mayhem.
“Mall owners have to concentrate on disgruntled employees posing as terrorists,” Lee said. “Since we’re all worried about terrorism, it’s a prime time for militia groups or disgruntled employees to pose as foreign terrorists. They know the threat will be immediately reacted to, and no one will know it’s a hoax until they’re seriously investigated.”
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the most common crimes committed at shopping centers are shoplifting, personal theft, identity theft and car theft. —Andrew Asch
