Staying Safe at the Mall

NCPC is facilitating a public-private task force headed by Town Center at Boca Ration to promote community safety.

By Famin Ahmed, NCPC Staff

The National Crime Prevention Council has teamed up with Town Center at Boca Raton, a shopping mall property owned and managed by Simon Property Group, to promote crime prevention and safety awareness to shoppers, residents, and visitors to Boca Raton, FL.

NCPC will facilitate a public-private task force led by Town Center and will help spread messages of safety and crime prevention to the entire Boca Raton community. The Community Safety Awareness and Crime Prevention Task Force has brought together all sectors of Boca Raton, including businesses and local government, law enforcement, community-based organizations, and residents, to promote community and personal safety in the area.

“Through this joint effort with NCPC, we will draw on their expertise in bringing crime prevention messages alive for and relevant to our shoppers, our retailers, and our employees,” said Tim Earnest, senior vice president of Simon Management Company, the property management division of Simon Property Group.

NCPC will also collaborate with the task force to organize Community Awareness Days in Boca Raton. These community awareness events will be held in two or three different parts of Boca Raton and will deal with personal safety, protecting your kids, getting involved in your community, enhancing neighborhood safety by partnering with law enforcement, and other crime prevention programs.

“NCPC is very excited to be working with Simon Property Group on behalf of Town Center at Boca Raton on this safety initiative,” said Al Lenhardt, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council. “Not only will this project create an even safer atmosphere for shoppers, but it will inspire them to change their behavior so that they are more aware of their surroundings and more conscious of their individual actions.”

If the pilot project is a success, both NCPC and Simon Property Group are interested in expanding this project to other communities nationwide.

Other steps Town Center has taken to improve safety and security for its customers include programs that allow parents shopping with children free valet parking and building a state-of-the-art closed-circuit surveillance system. Boca Raton police officers patrol the mall around the clock.

Try these resources for more tips on shopping safety and preventing crime in your community.

• Safe Shopping http://www.ncpc.org/topics/by-audience/parents/safe-shopping/?searchterm=shopping%20safety
• Teaching Children About Strangers and Dangerous Situations  http://www.ncpc.org/topics/by-audience/parents/strangers 
• Work Safety http://www.ncpc.org/topics/work-safety/?searchterm=auto%20safety
• Neighborhood Watch Needs You  http://www.mcgruffstore.org/newaneyou.html
• Designing Safer Communities: A CPTED Handbook  http://www.mcgruffstore.org/dessafcomcpt.html
• Guarding Against Robbery and Assault http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1237,q,547781,mpdcNav_GID,1551.asp
• ATM Safety: Common Sense Tips for Combating Crooks  http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnspr04/atm.html