We’d all feel better if we knew the 100-plus security guards employed at the Mall of America had AK-47s at their disposal. We’d feel better if we knew they could call in and get 100 more soldiers of a SWAT team in minutes.

Instead, we know the mall has 100 officers “employed” including another 50 part-time. We don’t know how many are there at any one time. If there is a crisis or evacuation plan, we really wouldn’t know it. The mall does conduct lockdown drills once a month. Store employees seem to know of one, but it appears they’re not at liberty to speak about it.

The mall said patrons may be subject to a security interview, but we don’t know when or if or how many of these are conducted or if there is a random program.

Yet, the mall provided an “unprecedented” peek behind its security apparatus touted in newspapers and on television Tuesday.

And that’s part of the problem with keeping the public confident they are safe wherever they go. There’s a fine line to draw between the public knowing what security measures might be in place and the bad guys having the same knowledge.

It seems security managers side too much toward secrecy when educating the public could do more to enhance security than hurt it.

The mall did reveal some of their strategies. They have teams monitoring the hundreds of cameras set up in the mall. They check delivery vehicles for bomb making material residues with a swab. They monitor social media. They make sure they have connections with people who might have information of threat groups.

The recent threat by the terrorist group al-Shabab that specifically encouraged attacks on the Mall of America caused the mall and Bloomington police to increase their patrols, though they would not say by how much.

The Department of Homeland Security offers training on something as simple as recognizing a suspicious person, but it appears the public at large or mall customers are not bothered with this information, lest their shopping experience be sullied.

Security experts argued that training janitors, security and retail employees to recognize suspicious people increased the number of eyes and ears needed to spot threats. We would argue, the public too, should be trained, thereby increasing the “security” exponentially.

 

—Mankato Free Press, Feb. 25