Security measures in place at Mall of the North despite an increase in remote jamming

POLOKWANE – People are warned to make sure that their vehicles are locked when leaving it in a parking lot or outside a building.

Review spoke to the management of Mall of the North to hear what initiatives they take to ensure that shoppers have a pleasant shopping experience and do not have to worry about the safety of their vehicles.

Sumari de Ridder, the General Manager of the mall, shared some of the things that the mall does to help people feel save while they go and shop at the mall.

Besides from having over 50 car guards on duty in the parking lot, the mall also has several security guards on hand in case they are needed.

De Ridder said that the mall annually employs seven more guards when it comes closer to the festive season to help with security at the parking area. “At this stage we have not had any issues with remote jamming or incidents of items stolen from vehicles in the parking lot,” she added.

She said that the car guards are trained and aware and keep a close eye on people moving between vehicles as well as people who just stand around in the parking lot.

People who remain in their cars are also watched to see what they are up to because no one comes to the mall to sit in a closed car all day.

“When there is an incident, it is brought under the attention of the car guards to make them aware of things to look out for. This helps crime prevention which means that the problem is stopped before it begins,” de Ridder said.

When it comes to management of the car guards she says that it is important that action is taken against car guards who neglect their duties and this has been a very successful method in the past where incidents did occur.

“There are some security protocol that we cannot make known to the public because it will give insight to the wrong people, but the mall is set up to deal with a large variety of incidents, because of past experience and also because of the well trained personnel who deal with safety and security at the mall,” de Ridder said.

She said several big arrests have been made at the mall and in the parking area but because of issues with law enforcement this could not be made public to the media but people need to know that the mall fights crime and makes sure that their shoppers are safe.

The mall annually spends substantial amount of money to beef up security to make sure that the mall is a safe place for shoppers and their families and remains that way.

riana@nmgroup.co.za