Booooo Northlake (Charlotte, Monroe, Northlakes: violent crime, per square foot, shopper)

[HomeSweetHomeNY]

You can always count on bad news stories at Northlake =p


Alert shopper helps catch car break-in suspects | WCNC.com | Local News for Charlotte, North Carolina | Top Stories

[NCgirl]

Unfortunately parking lots attract thugs, Northlake is no exception.

From an article about the light rail.

“You're going to have your problems anywhere you go. You just got to be real aware of your surroundings, keep an eye on the person next to you, watch your kids -- there's a lot of things out there you've got to be mindful of,” Rappelyea said.

For comparison, Eyewitness News checked police reports and found that in the same 10 months, ]Southpark Mall had one robbery and 54 car break-ins, the Carolina Pavilion shopping center had three armed robberies, 26 car break-ins and five cars stolen, the airport's parking lot had 27 car break-ins and two stolen cars, and the Transit Center bus terminal had two armed robberies and 29 larcenies.

Where ever you are, everyone needs to pay attention to their surroundings because some people are up to no good.

Malls, Wal-Marts Attract Charlotte Criminals

A crew found police frequently were called to shopping centers, hospitals and the transportation center uptown.
But when it came to actual crime offenses, Northlake Mall had the most with 330 reports. Most of them were for shoplifting and car break-ins.

Southpark Mall had the second highest amount with 302 crimes. A third of them were shoplifting.
But neither mall had much violent crime.
Officials at both Northlake and Southpark said they believe their numbers are quite low when you consider that millions of people visit their malls each year.

“You know, if you break it down per square foot, compared to everybody else, we're probably much lower -- compared that way,” said Phil Morosco of Northlake Mall.
“Does any of it surprise you?” anchor Blair Miller asked Randy Thomas of Southpark.
“No, it doesn't surprise,” he said.”Some of the competition on that list is one-eighth our size, and one-fifth of our visitors. So it can be distorted.”

Third highest was the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Wilkinson Boulevard with 214 crimes in all, but Wal-Mart had more violent crime than other locations. It had 12 violent crimes in one year, including armed robberies and aggravated assault with a gun.

[Stripes17]

Northlake can use that parking lot tower the police have.

Currently, you have that little SUV riding a pattern all around the lot with flashing lights just broadcasting to the thugs where the security patrol is.

Hey Mall Mgr, how about a little undercover surveilance on the parking lot?

[Metallisteve]

I say hooray Northlake for still attracting people that care enough about their surroundings.

Dumb punks...got what they deserve.

[SnowWhiteQueen]

They should have much tighter security and not allow any type of loitering in or outside of the mall and not allow kids under 18 unless they are accompanied by their parents/guardians/responsible adults.

[SunnyKayak]

two words

future eastland

[bs13690]

Why are people leaving items in their cars in the first place? Especially purses! Put it in the trunk at least.

[spankys bbq]

Originally Posted by SunnyKayak

two words

future eastland

Exactly what I've been thinking since I almost went to a movie there a year ago. They really need to do something to get this situation under control before it runs off the shoppers.

[Metallisteve]

Last time I was there for a movie (maybe a month ago), there were a lot of teens hanging out in the courtyard area in front of the movie entrance. However, there must have been 15-20 combined police and security patrolling the area in pairs. Hardly sounds like Eastland to me.

Don't judge an area by a mall. If you want to do that, let's call all of the south end of town upitty, snotty, and stuck up because of Southpark Mall.

[anifani821]

I remember Chief Monroe just addressed increased crime at Northlake recently - and said he was rearranging some patterns w/ patrols. So I think PD is aware of the situation and involved.

The Mall itself can hire more security. One of my friends stocks goods (jewelry, sunglasses) at several of the stores at Northlakes, and she advises that stores are having a big problem w/ shoplifting, so have hired undercover security who are very average looking - one would never know they are not shoppers. So I think everyone is aware and doing everything possible to mitigate shoplifting as well as loiters. After all, the last thing the retailers would want is a bad reputation that would discourage shoppers from their location.

Sunny - I agree - this is what happened as Eastland w/ the loiters and teens hanging out wh/ led to violence b/n groups (and possibly, gangs) in the parking lots. My hope is that retailers as well as PD are also thinking how this could go downhill quickly and so are going to nip it in the bud. I surely hope so.