NCJ Number
172454
Journal
Security Management Volume: 42 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1998) Pages: 35-39
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines the effect on customers of security arrangements at shopping centers and malls.
Abstract
A study of retail establishments in the United Kingdom revealed that security was given a higher priority by the managers of enclosed malls than by the managers of traditional downtown shopping areas, called town centers. Shoppers also regarded malls as safer than town centers. Town center shoppers were at least three times more likely than mall shoppers to cite crime as a serious problem. Taken together, the findings perhaps explain why malls are winning in the fight for retail business. Shopping mall managers preferred an approach to security that combined security guards, radios, and closed circuit television. One of the managers' most important options was allowing security guards to be proactive in excluding, ejecting, or moving on people who created an unacceptable nuisance, even though their behavior might fall short of criminal activity. Security means safety, safety means shoppers, and shoppers mean profits for retail businesses.