PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mall owners are turning to social media to get in front of trouble before it starts, reasoning that if Twitter can be used to start a mall brawl, it can prevent one.
Security operations at many large shopping centers include some kind of social media tracking, in which web-crawling software alerts guards to posts about fights, protests or other threats to the property.
Though not always effective at preventing melees such as the one at Monroeville Mall on Friday, social media have given malls a leg up in the cat-and-mouse game with troublemakers, said David Levenberg, president of Center Security Services, a mall security consultant in Boca Raton, Fla.
“It’s almost like a ticker tape that runs across the screen that the security folks monitor,” Levenberg said. “It’s not always foolproof, but it has certainly proven to be effective when there’s a lot of chatter about a mall or a particular event at a mall.”
Police are investigating what caused a chaotic scene at Monroeville Mall in which a 1,000-teenager flash mob that organized through social media turned violent. Controlling mobs can be extraordinarily difficult, but social media can have a critical role in preparing or even preventing them, Levenberg said.
Mall owners have used social media to anticipate protests, such as those that occurred this month when a New York grand jury cleared a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man. They have used them to prevent flash mobs and fights such as in Monroeville.
In some cases, mall owners alerted police on noticing threatening posts, then police officers warned the individuals of the consequences through social media. Malls are private property, and the individuals will be subject to arrest, and a reminder from the police can be enough to prevent problems, Levenberg said.
Stacey Keating, spokewoman for CBL & Associates Inc., owners of the Monroeville and Westmoreland malls, declined to comment, saying her group did not wish to disclose security practices.
Using social media to make security decisions can be difficult because the popularity of platforms changes, said Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.
“The problem is the technology changes so fast,” Kavanagh said. “They’re using Facebook once, then they may be using something else. As much as you work to try to prevent it, there are guys creating new sites.”
Pittsburgh Mills keeps an eye on social media posts that mention the mall, but the scrutiny has not been needed to head off a fight, Mills general manager Jerry Crites said.
Frazer police are based at the mall, and that presence — combined with keeping good relationships with teen customers — has been enough to keep shoppers safe, he said.
“Normally, if it’s happening locally, you don’t need social media,” Crites said. “We just talk to the kids. It’s the original social media, correct?”
Pittsburgh Mills put a few more police officers and security guards in the mall Saturday as a precaution after the Monroeville incident, Crites said.
A Monroeville Mall spokeswoman said additional officers patrolled Saturday, declining to give further details about security arrangements.
Monroeville Mayor Greg Erosenko, Manager Tim Little and police Chief Doug Cole plan to meet with representatives from the mall to discuss security measures Tuesday morning, Erosenko said.
Cole said police issued one citation Friday for disorderly conduct, and he expects arrests of some of those involved in at least two of the assaults.
The police chief cautioned against drawing conclusions from other incidents of crowd violence at malls across the country that coalesced around instructions relayed through social media.
“Nothing’s come through to me that says this was a consolidated effort” to disrupt operations at malls nationwide, Cole said.
__
Online: https://bit.ly/1ti1n9B
___
Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, https://pghtrib.com
About Post Author
