Mall Security

It's almost as good as a sale: The total number of crimes committed at two of the three largest malls in Baltimore County declined slightly in the first half of this year, according to police statistics released this week.Security has been increased at the two malls -- Towson Town Center and Security Square Mall -- in the last year, and spokespersons for both malls, as well as police, said increased patrols and other measures helped keep crime down.Countywide, the total number of crimes increased at five malls, stayed the same at one and dropped at the remaining four.

Two diamond engagement rings worth $9,500 were stolen from Kay Jewelers in Annapolis Mall Monday, county police said.Tracie R. Brown, 22, a store employee, told police a man walked into the store about 8: 40 p.m. and asked to examine with a gem scope two 1-carat rings with gold bands.The man grabbed the rings and fled into the mall entrance of Hecht's department store.Mall security was alerted but did not apprehend the man, police said.Pub Date: 2/20/97

To harried, last-minute holiday shoppers, security guards at the Cranberry Mall in Westminster seem to be everywhere. Uniformly dressed in black, they answer even routine questions with a snappy, "Yes, ma'am!" or "No, sir!"According to Aaron Coleman, the mall's 30-year-old director of security, it's all part of the image he wants to project.He preaches high visibility, communication, education, community outreach and customer service as much as crime prevention."It's a highly proactive, innovative and aggressive approach that most mall security agencies are using, but we want to take it a step farther," he said.

Arrest leads to charges in Va. car theft caseThe arrest Monday of two men for allegedly trying to shoplift electronic equipment from a store at Annapolis Mall may help solve a Virginia car theft case, county police said yesterday.Officers said they found identification belonging to one of the men arrested in a 1995 Toyota 4-Runner parked on the mall lot. The vehicle was reported stolen from Springfield Toyota in Springfield, Va., police said.Michael T. Huber, a security officer at Montgomery Ward, saw two men come in the store about 9:30 p.m. One took a $200 videocassette recorder and tried to leave through the Electric Avenue exit without paying for it, but mall security officers stopped both men at the door, police said.

A man and a woman stole $1,236 worth of clothes Tuesday morning from a Lane Bryant shop in Glen Burnie, county police said.An employee at the store at Marley Station Mall told police that the couple entered the shop about 11:20 a.m. The man held a large J.C. Penney bag open while the woman filled it with clothes, police said.The employee went to call mall security, but the thieves were gone by the time she returned. Mall security and police looked for the couple but could not find them, police said.

Baltimore CityROBBERY: Western District -- An 82-year-old resident of the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Ave. was seated in the back of a car parked in the 700 block of N. Arlington Ave. Wednesday when a man reached into the vehicle and stole her purse containing cash and property, all valued at $88.THEFT: Northeastern District -- Two chairs valued together at $500 were stolen from the back yard of a house in the 1300 block of Windemere Ave. between Tuesday and...

Baltimore County police were searching today for a 3-year-old girl reported missing last night when her mother was shopping at the Montgomery Ward store in Security Square Mall.Police said Darntrell Griffin, 21, of the 900 block of Homestead St., was shopping in the store's appliances section with her boyfriend around 7:30 p.m. when she suddenly noticed her daughter, Shante Denise Harris, was missing.When last seen, the child was wearing a black and white polka dot top, pink sweat pants, black, red and white tennis shoes and had white clips in her hair.

MANY merchants feel shoppers will go where they feel safest. In an effort to get the shopper into the malls, the Governor's Executive Advisory Council recently held a conference on security programs for mall merchants. "Operation Safe Shopper" produced a three-page list of tips and techniques for improving mall security.The list begins with the obvious: "Always lock doors," and "Conceal valuables." It then proceeds to stress several useful ideas, such as letting the public know that undercover officers are present at the malls.

John and Millie Chase are mall walkers with a complaint.For years, the Harper's Choice residents have been part of a group of friends and neighbors who don sweats or walking shorts bright and early and head to The Mall in Columbia for a quick stroll."

LOS ANGELES -- Members of a suburban Van Nuys Girl Scout troop who showed up for a shopping trip at the Northridge Fashion Square were at first denied entry by security officials enforcing a policy designed to prevent gang violence.Mall officials say the guards were just doing their jobs, but the leader of Troop 823 said Wednesday that the scouts deserved an apology."We were stopped at the door and [told] we could not enter because we were a gang," said troop leader Lois Young."The guard said a group with more than three people was a gang.