Malls Work on Their Security, but Keep It in the Background
By RONDA KAYSEN
Published: November 26, 2013
As millions of Americans descend on the country’s shopping malls this week for the holiday shopping season, few may notice new security measures intended to prevent violence like the recent shooting at a mall in Paramus, N.J., that left a gunman dead and terrified thousands of shoppers.
For years now, shopping centers have been the target of highly publicized attacks like the shooting last December at a mall near Portland, Ore., that left three people dead including the gunman, and the coordinated attack in September on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya.
With multiple entrances, numerous parking levels and webs of corridors, the very design of a mall provides an assailant with endless opportunities for cover.
