June 16, 2006—ASIS International, the largest association of private security managers in the United States, has helped a law enforcement think tank get funding for a report on the state of security preparations at US shopping malls.
The report, which was funded by the Justice Department and produced by the Police Foundation, concludes that although shopping malls are among the top potential targets of terrorism, these facilities have made minimal investments in security and their emergency response planning has been extremely poor. ASIS International’s Robert Rowe blames complacency for the report’s findings, noting that “security has become a less important priority” because terrorists have not hit the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks. “It’s now much more difficult to justify costs for additional security,” Rowe says.
The report is based on surveys of 33 state homeland security directors and 120 security directors at top US shopping malls, as well as visits to two Israeli shopping malls and eight American shopping malls. The report—the largest of its kind since the Sept. 11 attacks—finds that just 16 percent of US malls have increased their security spending beyond the rate of inflation since September 2001, just one-third of mall security directors rehearse their emergency plans with local law enforcement, and none of the malls visited conduct joint exercises with first responders.
In addition, the report finds that far too many mall security guards have nothing more than basic training, and that although more than 50 percent have also received some type of terrorism training, that training was judged inadequate by 62 percent of security managers.
For more information, visit the Web site for ASIS International.
