Crime prevention series

Administrative and security systems

Published in:
Preventing retail crime
Susan Geason and Paul R Wilson
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1992
ISBN 0 642 17047 9 ; ISSN 1031-5330
(Crime prevention series) ; pp. 61-72

Security goals and objectives

The goal of any shopping centre developer or operator is profit, and every operating function within the shopping centre must ultimately be measured in terms of its contribution to profit. Since security cannot generate profits, its cost-effectiveness must be measured in terms of its contribution to the overall profitability of the shopping centre. To make this contribution, security must concentrate on two interrelated and equally important objectives: loss prevention - including crime prevention, and public relations, that is, making customers feel safe.

Loss prevention

Although many security directors still think in terms of crime prevention, loss prevention is more appropriate. Shopping centres must be protected from any loss, not just that arising out of crime (Potter 1984). For example, if a security officer sees spilled liquid on the floor that could cause a customer to fall and sue the mall management, he or she should call housekeeping and stand by till it is cleaned up. Similarly, fire risks should be reported.

Crime prevention is an important part of loss prevention, and effective shopping centre programs can prevent criminal activity in three ways:

Deterrence: Security must provide a highly-visible, effective deterrent to criminal activity. Adequate lighting, alert and aggressive patrols and appropriate physical security measures such as controlling access to non-public areas are all effective deterrents.

Detection: While no retail facility can deter all criminal activity, crime can be prevented by the use of closed-circuit television and intrusion alarm systems followed by an appropriate response.

Limitation of loss: Responses to crime or threats of crime must be designed to prevent loss of life and limit or eliminate property losses and potential liability. Where appropriate, shopping centre and tenant security personnel should coordinate their activities with any police or emergency services response.

Loss prevention programs

According to one American corporate director of loss prevention (Security Management, February 1988), three key elements are necessary for successful loss prevention programs - clear guidelines, open lines of communication and motivation.

Clear guidelines are imperative so employees know exactly what is expected of them. These should be in writing and be reviewed periodically to keep them up to date. Policies should be introduced to new employees in orientation classes or incorporated into employee handbooks which must be signed for and read. Periodic routine training programs should be held to review rules and procedures. Keeping employees conscientious is an ongoing process.

Open lines of communication: Employees may be stealing to get back at the company or a supervisor. An open door policy that allows employees to feel comfortable discussing work problems may prevent this type of theft. If employees identify with the company, they are less likely to steal.

Motivation: Money is not the only motivation. Company programs that show employees they are appreciated can help instil identification and prevent theft.

Public relations

Often the only visible, readily identifiable representative of shopping centre management is the security officer. A courteous uniformed officer can be a major public relations asset. Research has shown that the public react very favourably to security officers in police-style uniforms.

To enhance their public relations function, some centres allow officers to help customers in car parks who are locked out or have mechanical problems.

The experience of Horton Plaza is that security and marketing programs for developments must be designed to complement each other.

Case study: overcoming fear of crime in Horton Plaza, San Diego, United States

Before it could be developed as the cornerstone of the urban revitalisation of California's San Diego in 1985, the Horton Plaza had to overcome potential customers' fear of crime in the downtown area.

To help them establish a framework for the Plaza's security program, Horton Plaza management analysed the police department's crime statistics for the proposed area, interviewed police and accompanied them on their beats, and held discussions with government and business leaders about problems and options for the downtown area (Brown 1987).

Once all aspects of the revitalisation program had been researched, the developers set about convincing the public that their safety and security were being addressed.

Security mechanisms included:

• an electronic perimeter using passive infra-red detectors and CCTV cameras at all entrances to the Horton Plaza complex;
• large numbers of well-trained security personnel;
• a very aggressive patrol offering assistance of all types, for example, giving directions, reuniting lost people, locating lost vehicles, helping with keys locked in cars and getting mechanical help where necessary.

Customers have to pay for parking in the Horton Plaza, and this has helped keep car theft down. Because of space restrictions in the paid parking lot, any person who does not have a claim check must present identification, which is then compared to the vehicle registration. As well panic/security stations were installed in all major thoroughfares in the parking station. All stations are identified by a bright red 'Security Assistance' sign with a button which opens a microphone feed when pushed. This action tells the security dispatcher where the call originated and lets him talk to the customer. If the button is pushed and nobody answers the security guard, security officers are immediately dispatched to that location.

Closed-circuit surveillance cameras and special patrols are also used to instil confidence and deter crime in the car park.

What sort of security force?

There are three types of security programs available for shopping centres: a proprietary (in-house) security department, a contract security company, or off-duty law enforcement officers.

Regardless of the source of security personnel, every shopping centre security program must: provide a secure environment for tenants, employees and customers; be cost-effective; and be defensible in court.

Off-duty police for security

Just as there are difficulties with using proprietary and contract security forces, using off-duty police as security officers in shopping centres can cause problems (Potter 1984). For example:

• the primary allegiance of police may be to law enforcement in general rather than to the mall management, causing them to respond to outside police emergencies while on the job;
• they can be expensive; and
• the long hours involved in a full-time job plus part-time security work may make them less effective.

There are advantages, however - they have full police powers; they come armed, equipped and fully trained; and they know how and where to get backup assistance.

Whichever alternative is chosen, security managers should undertake the following.

• Define the duties and responsibilities of all security officers, proprietary or contract, employed by or assigned to the shopping centre.
• Determine whether or not the security officers will carry weapons.
• Be responsible for the overall supervision and control of the security staff.
• Determine the level of training needed.
• Interview all security staff before employment or assignment and retain the right to terminate without cause.
• Insist on adequate insurance coverage and require that the shopping centre be named as an additional insured party on the contract security company's policy. A certificate of insurance and advance notification of cancellation from the carrier should also be required.
• Be responsible for all policies and procedures governing the conduct of proprietary or contract security officers (commissioning, power of arrest, apprehension of shoplifters, use of force, and involvement in tenant security matters).

It is worth remembering that the shopping centre security manager will be sued along with the shopping centre for any torts committed by proprietary or contract security officers.

In Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other United States cities, on-duty police officers are assigned to foot beats in urban malls. In many growing suburban communities, the need for more police stations is met by locating sub-stations in shopping centres. An extra benefit here is that police can train shopping centre security personnel. In many cases shopping centre security officers maintain direct radio contact with local law enforcement agencies to enable them to summon police help in emergencies.

Many shopping centres employ a combination of security alternatives. For example, a number of malls use proprietary security officer for interior patrols and off-duty police to patrol parking lots. Others have found an in-house security director supervising contract security to be highly cost-effective.

Advantages of choosing a contract security service include lower cost, availability, flexibility of scheduling and elimination of administrative overhead; however, while management can delegate the security function, it retains the responsibility and thus the liability.

Security staff and police

It is vital that security staff understand that their role is deterrence, not law enforcement so that they do not confuse their role with that of the police. Another way of preventing problems among mall security, tenants and local police is training retail sales staff to deal with emergencies. For their part, shopping mall managers can ease relations with police by responding to police requests when possible.

Case study: preventing crime and allaying fear of crime at the State Street Mall in the Loop, Chicago, United States

In 1977 Chicago instituted an $18 million redevelopment program to transform a crime-ridden section of its central business district called the Loop into the State Street Mall, a popular, exciting shopping precinct and tourist attraction. Marshall Field's, the huge retail chain represented in the mall, introduced its own security system (see Preventing retail crime in department & specialty stores), but officers of the Chicago Police Department's First District bear responsibility for law enforcement in the mall.

The mall is closed to traffic other than buses and police cars, and the police patrol the mall in a special 'mall car'. Marshall Field's employs off-duty police from the city's elite tactical unit to protect its customers and the public. They help the store's security guards deal with pickpockets and other criminals who plague the downtown area.

Retailers in the State Street Mall have cooperated by joining the Store Mutual Association (SMA) of Illinois, Inc, modelled on a similar association in Washington. It will serve as a clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of information regarding individuals committing crimes against the member retailers.

The Illinois and Washington DC SMAs have found the following initiatives helpful in controlling crime in shopping centres like the State Street Mall:

• strong and visible perimeter security in each major store;
• use of CCTV and related technology;
• a 100 per cent prosecution policy clearly understood by law enforcement;
• strong internal control and review of security personnel;
• cooperation among all stores in their attempts to combat their common crime problems and public; and
• public and private sector cooperation in crime control, including joint seminars on business crime and sharing resources to foster closer working relationships.

On the public relations front, Marshall Field's, the Greater State Street Committee and the Chicago police department as well as other major department stores in the mall have joined forces, not only to fight crime, but also to enhance public perception of safety on the mall (Shealy & Levy 1985).

Another measure tried in Chicago - and regarded as a partial success - was the establishment of a special shoplifting court (Shealy & Levy 1985). It ran into the same difficulties as other courts in obtaining convictions, but significantly reduced the time store security agents have had to spend in court.

Case study: cost-sharing to fund a special police beat for a shopping centre in Montclair, California, United States

The opening of the Montclair Plaza in 1968 to serve the shopping needs of the residents of the greater Pomona Valley and the west end of San Bernadino County resulted in an enormous influx of population to the city during shopping hours. Comprised four major retail stores and numerous specialty shops, this shopping centre attracted crimes such as shoplifting, cheque fraud, credit card fraud, car theft and burglary and theft from vehicles (Moulton 1983). The major problem turned out to be the number of police hours needed to process juvenile shoplifters, most of them first offenders. As the centre had a relatively small private security staff, this placed an increasing burden on the local police force.

Juvenile shoplifters: In the case of shoplifting, an extra-legal process was employed to reduce the police workload without 'jeopardising the integrity of the role of law enforcement in the prevention and reduction of juvenile delinquency' (Moulton 1983).

In a one-stop resolution, juvenile shoplifters caught in minor incidents were contacted, identified and, after a strong warning that their next offence would result in formal arrest, released to parents or guardians without being officially booked. This reduced the police workload and kept juveniles out of the official juvenile justice system.

Plaza policeman: With only 45 officers, the police department decided against making the complex a specific beat, believing it could not be justified in the light of total community needs. Instead, they proposed that the plaza sponsor an officer on specific assignment. When the plaza management vetoed this idea, the police resuscitated the special beat plan.

After some negotiations, the plaza agreed to pay - in monthly instalments to the city's finance department - 50 per cent of the beat officer's salary, including benefits based on a 40-hour week.

Recognising that the program would be on trial, the police invited only highly-qualified personnel to apply, and selected an officer with 'intelligence, experience, personality and outstanding uniform appearance'. To prevent the officer being subjected to conflicting demands, the police and the plaza management hammered out a consensus on job design, specifically on responsibility, accountability and chain of command.

The plaza provided the policeman with an office and equipment and he had separate access to the communications centres of both the plaza and the police department.

Results: In the case of juvenile shoplifting, the unofficial 'release' program was carefully monitored, showing a recidivism rate for local residents of only 2 per cent and a slightly higher rate for juveniles outside the Montclair jurisdiction.

According to the Montclair Police Department's Chief of Police, the plaza police beat worked well. Early figures showed a dramatic decrease in the incidence of theft from cars, theft of cars and arrests for shoplifting. In addition, the police helped train plaza security staff and in return gained invaluable expertise in shopping centre security.

This study shows that an escalation in crime related to the construction of a regional shopping centre in California was checked by the designation of the centre as a specific police beat funded 50-50 by the city of Montclair and the plaza management. First offence juvenile shoplifting was dealt with outside the juvenile justice system.

Some Australian examples

Westfield runs 21 shopping malls throughout Australia, but not all have a security force. It is not considered necessary in locations such as Sydney's North Rocks, for example, which attracts mostly young families with children and few juveniles. Where security staff are employed, they are not armed.

Westfield's policy is to encourage close relationships between centre management and local police, with police carrying out patrols in the malls (Des Hayes, Westfield Limited, personal communication 1991). For a time Westfield provided a police office in their Parramatta shopping centre, and there is currently a police station in the Arndale mall in South Australia.

At Lend Lease's Bankstown Square shopping centre in Sydney's south-west, security staff have had to deal with tensions between groups of Lebanese and Vietnamese youths. Mall management has been cooperating closely with Bankstown police on this matter, particularly with their Vietnamese Liaison officer. Bankstown Police have also appointed a male and a female youth liaison officer, who are trying to build trust through the schools (Bankstown Police, personal communication 1991).

Teenagers, loitering & rowdiness

After car thefts and break-ins, the security problems most often cited in a 1985 survey carried out by the International Council of Shopping Centres were teenagers, loitering and rowdiness (Hunter 1988). The dilemma for mall managers is keeping disruption by teenagers to a minimum without alienating them or their parents.

Proper training in security of staff is essential in managing teenagers without conflict. Security staff in Australia's Westfield chain of malls, for example, are trained to keep teenagers moving, and the design of mall furniture discourages loitering. They do not apprehend juveniles themselves, but call their parents, and if the offence is serious, the teenager is handed over to the police (Des Hayes, Westfield Limited, personal communication 1991).

Lend Lease's City Limits teenagers' precinct will be open seven days a week till 11 p.m. It is blocked off from the rest of the retail complex, and will be equipped with its own three-person security force in peak use times. Though this may help control nuisance behaviour and theft within the centre, it will be left to the police to deal with probable increases in crime in the town centre and residential area near the Square. Such a facility is bound to be a magnet for both potential offenders and their victims.

At Lend Lease's Bankstown Square shopping mall, seats are removed from areas frequented by teenagers - record stores, jeans shops - on Thursday afternoons and replaced on Friday mornings, after Thursday night late shopping (Tony Taylor, Lend Lease, personal communication 1991). There is no seating at all in City Limits, the new late-closing teenagers' precinct containing a dance floor, specialty shops and a 'family amusement centre' (including pinball machines).

In Holland, some shopping malls have laid down rules for schools attending centres, established 'free' zones where the rules are suspended (if you can't beat them, join them) and brought youth workers into the centres (Sutton 1984).

Shopping centre parking lots

In a 1985 security survey of 50 managers of shopping centres of more than 27,000 m² carried out by the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), over a third of the respondents said their single greatest security problem involved vehicles - car thefts, break-ins and vandalism (Hunter 1988). Mechanisms for reducing crime in carparks - improved lighting, and CCTV, for example - have been implemented, with smaller, cheaper cameras with low light sensitivity, automatic focusing and programmable panning sequences. Radios are also more powerful and cheaper.

To be cost effective, however, most experts agree that such technology must be planned into construction - or at least renovation - of a centre. Retrofitting can be expensive.

Another way of solving crime in existing car parks is using environmental design techniques (Hunter 1985).

• Natural surveillance can be effected by promoting family activities, and therefore foot traffic, around the parking lot and clearing storefront windows of promotional signs.
• Controlling access to the lot by limiting entrances and exits can have a positive psychological effect on security.
• Siting parking deep into the property increases pedestrian traffic and makes it harder for thieves to get away.
• Loading docks should be made easy for police to patrol, or ideally, made visible from the streets police already patrol.
• To make patrolling easier, cars should be laid out in lines, so security officers or police can see between them from patrol points.
• If possible, the parking lot should be laid out for maximum visibility of all parts.

The effect is circular. If a parking lot is safe and is perceived to be safe by customers, they are more likely to use the centre at night and odd hours. This increases the centre's productivity and makes the parking lot safer by increasing traffic.

Pittsburgh reported a sharp decline in crime after it passed an ordinance in 1984 requiring closed commercial parking lots to have emergency buzzers on all levels, minimum lighting levels and security patrols.

In Australia's Westfield malls, car parks at inner - city shopping centres are incorporated into the malls for improved security, though car parks in suburban malls are open. At Miranda Fair in Sydney, for example, the car park is enclosed by a wall topped with security mesh and can be locked off by steel gates. Car parks are well lit with 4-5 metre high light poles with mesh-protected 50-lux bulbs.

Car theft at Westfield's Parramatta shopping centre has been all but eradicated by the installation of boom gates on the exits. Lend Lease is following suit at Bankstown Square and installing staffed boom gates at all entrances and exits at a cost of $1.35 million (Tony Taylor, Lend Lease, personal communication 1991). Shoppers will get three hours free parking and pay $2 per hour thereafter; people not using the shops, commuters for example, will have to pay.

It is worth noting that, according to police statistics, an intensive uniformed and undercover police campaign against car theft at Bankstown Square in May 1991 had the effect of displacing theft of cars from Bankstown Square shopping centre during the day to surrounding areas at night. It is highly likely that the new boom gates will also increase car theft in other parts of Bankstown.

At Westfield's North Rocks centre, local skateboarders and mall management reached an agreement which gave teenagers the right to use the car park after hours in return for keeping an eye on parked cars.

For further information on car parks, see Preventing Car Theft and Crime in Car Parks by Susan Geason & Paul Wilson, published by the Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra in 1990.