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Season Five Research Files
Episode Eight
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Since September 11, shopping mall security guards have been given counterterrorism training that was formerly associated with the military or the Israeli police. Suicide bomber attacks and explosions have occurred at malls in Israel, the Philippines and Finland. Experts would like to prevent U.S. shopping centers from suffering a similar fate.
Security guards and the companies that control safety in malls are being taught blast patterns and behavior profiles, how a bomb is packaged and how a bomber is recruited. Guards are trained to study how people act, not just how they look. They are told to make eye contact with shoppers and look for either extremely focused people or those who won’t return a look. They also keep an eye out for those who clutch a bag or backpack with a white-knuckle grip.
After a potential threat on Los Angeles malls, an advisory was issued asking the public and mall security to look for people or activities that don’t “fit” into the mall environment, such as people sitting in a parked vehicle for a long time or anyone sketching or taking notes, photographing or videotaping areas not normally associated with tourism. Other suspects were singled out for wearing a heavy coat in hot weather, carrying unusually heavy bags or backpacks. Vehicles were stopped for improperly parking or in spots not normally used for deliveries.
Some shopping centers have impressive video surveillance systems that use face recognition. The International Council of Shopping Centers held about 20 antiterrorism classes in 2004 and has planned dozens more. Mall security directors have recently received training at the FBI Academy in Quantico. These officials also regularly interface with Homeland Security, FBI and local law enforcement.
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