What We’ve Learned

When Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan last month, it marked a significant milestone in what has broadly been termed the war on terrorism. But experts and analysts were quick to point out that the threat of terrorism is still very real, and that enhanced security measures put in place after 9/11 are likely to remain for years to come.

Malls and many retailers have dramatically altered their security operations over the last 10 years. The addition of personnel and technology, combined with strong collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement, has placed a greater emphasis on prevention. And whether it’s the threat of a bomber or a gunman, strong training across all levels goes a long way toward maintaining high levels of safety at stores and malls.

There have been more than 60 terrorist attacks against shopping centers in 21 countries since 1998, according to a Rand Corporation report titled “Reducing Terrorism Risk at Shopping Centers.” The FBI circulated warnings of potential mall attacks during the holiday season on a number of occasions over the past decade, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — itself a response to the 9/11 attacks — counts shopping malls among high-profile targets.

Joe LaRocca, NRF’s senior asset protection advisor, says retail security actually started changing in 1999 — in preparation for Y2K, and in response to the tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado. Y2K had retailers looking at disaster and communications contingencies, while the school shooting shed a harsh light on the violence a couple of gunman could wreak.

On September 11, 2001, many retailers across the country closed their doors, out of respect but also in fear of what could happen next. And before the dust had completely settled at Ground Zero, a series of anthrax attacks forced retailers to devise new and improved measures for receiving and inspecting packages.

Retailers worked with the U.S. Postal Service to thwart anthrax attacks, but it was the 2002 consolidation of a number of agencies into the DHS that spurred public/private collaboration to new levels.

“It has totally changed the way that retailers integrate and work with the federal government,” LaRocca says. “They now work with DHS on a number of fronts, from traditional crisis response to active shooter and how to look for suspicious behaviors.”

Russ Lauria, president of ITC Security Consultants in Ontario, Canada, has more than 28 years of experience in law enforcement. He says post-9/11 changes have filtered down from federal agencies to state and local law enforcement and into retail itself. Whether it’s identifying and assessing the threat potential of a suspicious individual, package or vehicle, nearly all scenarios now have systematic responses.

DHS’s Office of Infrastructure Protection’s Sector-Specific Agency Executive Management Office (SSA EMO) coordinates a wide range of training and preparedness programs for shopping centers and retail establishments, and security protocols have been woven into comprehensive emergency plans that cover everything from hurricanes and other natural disasters to terrorist and random shooter attacks.

The Rand report identified 39 “security options” that cover everything from building maintenance and vehicle management to customer entrance management and education. Among the most effective: suspicious package reporting; bollards at pedestrian entrances; searching all carts/kiosks daily; more clearly labeling exits; searching bags; emergency response teams; employee threat ID training; controlling access to service areas; and vehicle inspection at parking.

Most of the options are driven by the risks of bombings, which account for 70 percent of terrorist attacks worldwide. Implementing all of Rand’s security options at shopping centers could reduce the risk of terrorism by 20 percent, and the study found that the least-expensive approaches are among the most effective. Annual cost to implement the high-priority options ranges from $400,000 to $2 million.

Greater focus on intelligence
The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., receives more than 40 million visitors annually, an average of more than 100,000 per day. The largest mall in the United States, it has a force of more than 100 highly-trained security personnel that patrol the interior and exterior of the property on foot and bicycle.

Director of security Doug Reynolds says there has been a dramatic shift in the past decade toward gathering and disseminating intelligence and being watchful for suspicious behavior. The mall uses closed-circuit TV surveillance, radios and monitoring technology, but post-9/11 it added a full-time intelligence analyst whose sole job is to gather and analyze data on external threats, whether they be terrorism or crime-related.

Mall of America created a risk assessment and mitigation (RAM) team that consists of plain-clothed officers who specifically search for suspicious persons, vehicles and objects. “The RAM team is something we never had or even thought about until 9/11,” Reynolds says.

Bill Titus, vice president of loss prevention and safety for Sears Holdings, says retail physical security has been transformed to have a much greater emphasis on intelligence. Sears has crisis management, IT, food safety and analytical teams that play specialized roles in overall security. Like many large retailers, Sears is in direct communication with the federal government and its resources — so much so that it often learns about potential terrorist threats before the general public.

With an interest in 392 properties across the country, Simon Property Group is the largest mall operator in the United States. To strengthen and manage collaboration with the federal government, Simon has two intelligence officers on staff that constantly analyze threats, says vice president of corporate security and emergency management Russ Tuttle.

Simon holds monthly meetings that serve as a retail awareness/crime watch program. It also has block captains, security officers, supervisors and directors that collaborate with senior security executives and the three national security companies that Simon employs. Each property has a security program designed to fit its unique needs and vulnerabilities.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter program,” Tuttle says. “We manage to the threat, and we take a daily look at what those threats and risks are.”

In general, LaRocca says there was significant growth in retail LP programs from 2001 through the economic downturn of 2008. As a result, he says, “larger retailers have more feet on the ground since 9/11, but others may continue to use their operational teams and store personnel while working more closely with law enforcement.”