Lenox Square will install metal detectors to increase security (Atlanta: rent, crimes)

[citidata18]

https://www.ajc.com/news/lenox-squar...A3KXMYFG32GLQ/

Lenox Square officials have decided to install metal detectors in an attempt to increase security after a spate of incidents near the upscale Buckhead mall.

Mall officials did not say when they would install the metal detectors or where in the mall they would be located. Simon Properties, which owns Lenox Square and other malls in the metro area, said it will also add K-9 units on the premises.

“Individuals flagged by the K-9 unit or the metal detection system will be approached by (Atlanta police) and directed to immediately leave the property if they are found to be carrying a firearm,” the mall said in a news release.

The announcements come after heightened concerns about safety in the area following several shootings in the past year, highlighted by recent incidents in November and early December.

A man was hospitalized after being shot in the buttocks in the Apple store in the mall Nov. 20. Officers said he was involved in a fight with a group of men when someone fired a gun and then fled the scene. No arrests have been made...

[ATLTJL]

Boy, I hope they don't add drug sniffing dogs and block entry to shoppers carrying weed.

Lenox would become a ghost town!

[MattCW]

This is going to backfire horribly. Most people are not going to put up with this just to go shopping or grab a quick bite at the food court. While I'm sure the food court has been largely decimated since March, I'm also sure the lunchtime crowd is slowly trickling back as surrounding offices begin having small amounts of people on-site. It's not going to remotely solve the problem, just push it to the parking lots and garages where you'll now have guaranteed unarmed shoppers as easy prey both for the random crimes, and as bystanders in a personal conflict. Unless they put checkpoints at the outer property line AND thoroughly search EVERY vehicle entering, it's nothing but security theater, and the stores are going to suffer. Unless that's part of some grand plan for Simon to have reason to divest themselves of the property once stores start closing and their rent is affected. I mean, what do they care about a shopping downturn as long as they get their rent? Unless there's some kind of profit-sharing arrangement with the stores. I also notice they aren't doing the same to Phipps, unless that's just slid under the radar.

[BobbyJayATL]

Originally Posted by MattCW

This is going to backfire horribly.

I had similar thoughts to yours initially.

But if you read between the lines, it seems pretty clear they're not going to turn every entrance into a TSA checkpoint.

They're going to put up a mag or two, probably by the entrance(s) closest to the MARTA station(s).

They're going to have a dog or two onsite.

And they're going to hope that their press release scares away the riffraff, and not the paying customers.

[bryantm3]

This reminds me of the story I heard about chewing tobacco. This young boy saw an old man using it, and asked him for some. He thought about telling him how awful it was, but instead decided to give some to him, with the instruction that he should "spit out the sour, and swallow the sweet". Of course, it's all the same thing; the boy threw up and never chewed it again.

I guess my point is that they're not counting on paying customers and "riff raff" overlapping. It's more about setting a tone, I think. The mall is already a high stress environment in some ways... Making it a higher stress environment with the "security theatre" MattCW is talking about may result in less customers, more incidents, or both.

[BobbyJayATL]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

they're not counting on paying customers and "riff raff" overlapping.

Except they do. Maybe not 100%, but they do.

It's more about setting a tone, I think.

That was my point; I possibly didn't make it clear enough.

Except the article is the tone setter; not anything they will actually do.

There will be no "security theater" on site, I don't think. They are counting on the press coverage keeping the riffraff away. Not the actual security apparatus they put in place.

Again to continue to read between the lines, they're obviously continuing to count on APD to do the enforcement; I doubt they'll do any confrontation (and I'd argue a manned security checkpoint that involves security contractors going through bags, or investigating an alarming mag count as confrontation).

To that point, it's probable they'll implement a low-key system that's all but invisible to the public, and simply use it to directly alert APD re: the people that alarm. For instance, they could probably pipe camera feeds and alarm feeds directly to APD's precinct on site.

Simon Properties isn't run by amateurs; I can't imagine their legal team would sign off on any system that involves discretion or confrontation of customers by their employees/contractors.

We all know the demographics of those who are misbehaving.

The last thing Simon wants is for anyone who's confronted/banned to go to the media and claim that their interaction is Simon's fault, and is race-based.

They clearly want APD to do the dirty work, and will no doubt throw APD under the bus if anything goes remotely sideways.

[NYbyWAYofGA]

They may as well turn it into an airport and get TSA involved...lol. What's next, the National Guard...?

[K1404]

Shooting at Phipps in the Saks parking lot around 8:00 last night. 7-year-old girl struck in the head and in critical condition. No suspects in custody, of course. How does gunfire outside a mall crowded with holiday shoppers in a neighborhood that's already on high alert go unnoticed? It's seriously lawless out there.

[atlHawks]

Originally Posted by K1404

Shooting at Phipps in the Saks parking lot around 8:00 last night. 7-year-old girl struck in the head and in critical condition. No suspects in custody, of course. How does gunfire outside a mall crowded with holiday shoppers in a neighborhood that's already on high alert go unnoticed? It's seriously lawless out there.

Absolutely DISGUSTING. That coward KLB wont do anything.

[BobbyJayATL]

Originally Posted by K1404

Shooting at Phipps in the Saks parking lot around 8:00 last night. 7-year-old girl struck in the head and in critical condition. No suspects in custody, of course. How does gunfire outside a mall crowded with holiday shoppers in a neighborhood that's already on high alert go unnoticed? It's seriously lawless out there.

I don't know that it went "unnoticed"; from everything I've read, the Police have the security footage and are reviewing it (seemingly before they connected that incident to this gunfire).

Short of turning Buckhead (or Lenox, or Phipps) into a police state with military checkpoints (something Simon won't want to do because it'll scare customers away, and something the city can't really do because of the 4th Amendment), the only way you stop this type of behavior is long-term, and involves leadership (from the city and the schools - so far quite lacking), and cutting the P.C. approach.

There are studies galore on this; we're raising as a society a group of malcontents that can't delay gratification, and can't handle any (real or perceived) slight against their honor without responding violently.

Some of it's cultural, some of it's taught (or not), some of it stems from religiosity (or lack thereof) no doubt.

But just ignoring those real (and difficult) issues is a recipe for this to continue. Politicians always want the easy way out. More police. More gun control. Whatever.

I'm far from being a liberal guy, but I think there is a kernel of reasonableness to the proposal to do some sort of community/sociological outreach instead of simply arresting everyone (of course, I have no confidence in government to do that competently).

You can see the failure of the "more police" approach here. There's a police precinct at Lenox. Despite that there've been 8 or 9 shootings at Lenox, and this one across the street. The perps in every one so far have been caught (and I'm sure will in this one in a few days). Yet they're still happening.

If this crap is happening in what is at least theoretically one of the nicest parts of town, where the locals have some of the greatest political pull in town, it can happen anywhere.