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RETAILTRAFFIC magazine
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This part of the article sums up security at shopping malls rather nicely...
"...In fact, the state of mall security guards was addressed in the Department of Justice report. Letters with surveys were sent to security directors of 1,372 enclosed regional malls in the United States. Many told researchers that parent organizations told them not to cooperate with the survey. Still, more than 133 directors eventually sent in responses. The study found that the median starting hourly rate for mall security officers was $8.50 and the average for all security staff was $9.50.
Officers receive a median of 40 hours training, with most of it done in-house or through a parent security company. But the turnover rate arguably undermines much of the training that the industry has striven to put in place. ICSC, for example, says that 2,000 of the 6,000 mall security guards have taken an antiterrorism course it has developed with George Washington University. But if industry trends hold true, by next year none of those guards will still be working.
In one case, after a November 2003 shooting at the now defunct Blue Ridge Mall in Kansas City, Mo., left Eric Wheaton, then 30, brain damaged, he sued the mall's manager, MBS Mall Investor LLC, and the mall's security provider, Bannockburn, Ill.-based IPC International, for compensatory and punitive damages. Wheaton claimed mall management should have employed heightened security measures given past incidents at the mall. In addition, his lawyers argued IPC violated its documented protocols because there were no guards posted outside the mall at the time of the shooting. (The two security guards on duty were inside filing a report on another incident during the shooting.)
In April 2006, a jury verdict ruled in favor of IPC and MBS Mall, based in part on IPC's assertion that when the security officer arrived at the scene, his presence had not deterred the shooting. However, before the verdict, IPC reached a settlement with Wheaton for an undisclosed sum.
A similar case is unfolding from a February 2005 shooting at Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, N.Y. Thomas Haire — one of two people shot in the incident — has filed a negligence suit against Syracuse, N.Y.-based Pyramid Cos. Haire's lawsuit claims Pyramid did not have adequate security in place when a gunman entered Hudson Valley Mall and fired off 60 rounds.
“No, you can't stop someone from going to the mall with a weapon, but you can certainly intervene in time or limit the number of injuries,” says Steven M. Melley, of Rhinebeck, N.Y., Haire's attorney.
According to the plaintiff's deposition, the gunman, roamed the property for over an hour before starting his shooting spree. Prior to the shooting, witnesses at the shopping center said they observed the shooter assembling the assault rifle at his vehicle and purchasing ammunition from the adjoining Wal-Mart.
To date, the Supreme Court of the State of New York has upheld Haire's case, which remains in litigation. In a statement issued on October 5, 2007, Justice George B. Ceresia, Jr. noted even though there were no previous cases in the New York Court history where defendants were found liable under similar circumstances, “It is well settled that ‘New York landowners owe people on their property a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances to maintain their property in a safe condition.’”
The issue, according to the note, is whether Pyramid had enough reason to suspect, from past incidents at Hudson Valley Mall, that a security breach of such magnitude was likely.
— Elaine Misonzhnik"
This part of the article sums up security at shopping malls rather nicely...
"...In fact, the state of mall security guards was addressed in the Department of Justice report. Letters with surveys were sent to security directors of 1,372 enclosed regional malls in the United States. Many told researchers that parent organizations told them not to cooperate with the survey. Still, more than 133 directors eventually sent in responses. The study found that the median starting hourly rate for mall security officers was $8.50 and the average for all security staff was $9.50.
Officers receive a median of 40 hours training, with most of it done in-house or through a parent security company. But the turnover rate arguably undermines much of the training that the industry has striven to put in place. ICSC, for example, says that 2,000 of the 6,000 mall security guards have taken an antiterrorism course it has developed with George Washington University. But if industry trends hold true, by next year none of those guards will still be working.
In one case, after a November 2003 shooting at the now defunct Blue Ridge Mall in Kansas City, Mo., left Eric Wheaton, then 30, brain damaged, he sued the mall's manager, MBS Mall Investor LLC, and the mall's security provider, Bannockburn, Ill.-based IPC International, for compensatory and punitive damages. Wheaton claimed mall management should have employed heightened security measures given past incidents at the mall. In addition, his lawyers argued IPC violated its documented protocols because there were no guards posted outside the mall at the time of the shooting. (The two security guards on duty were inside filing a report on another incident during the shooting.)
In April 2006, a jury verdict ruled in favor of IPC and MBS Mall, based in part on IPC's assertion that when the security officer arrived at the scene, his presence had not deterred the shooting. However, before the verdict, IPC reached a settlement with Wheaton for an undisclosed sum.
A similar case is unfolding from a February 2005 shooting at Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, N.Y. Thomas Haire — one of two people shot in the incident — has filed a negligence suit against Syracuse, N.Y.-based Pyramid Cos. Haire's lawsuit claims Pyramid did not have adequate security in place when a gunman entered Hudson Valley Mall and fired off 60 rounds.
“No, you can't stop someone from going to the mall with a weapon, but you can certainly intervene in time or limit the number of injuries,” says Steven M. Melley, of Rhinebeck, N.Y., Haire's attorney.
According to the plaintiff's deposition, the gunman, roamed the property for over an hour before starting his shooting spree. Prior to the shooting, witnesses at the shopping center said they observed the shooter assembling the assault rifle at his vehicle and purchasing ammunition from the adjoining Wal-Mart.
To date, the Supreme Court of the State of New York has upheld Haire's case, which remains in litigation. In a statement issued on October 5, 2007, Justice George B. Ceresia, Jr. noted even though there were no previous cases in the New York Court history where defendants were found liable under similar circumstances, “It is well settled that ‘New York landowners owe people on their property a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances to maintain their property in a safe condition.’”
The issue, according to the note, is whether Pyramid had enough reason to suspect, from past incidents at Hudson Valley Mall, that a security breach of such magnitude was likely.
— Elaine Misonzhnik"
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