Shopping malls to have own police officers

A police officer and a security guard patrol a supermarket at Cloud Nine yesterday. — Yang Bo

Police officers will patrol shopping areas around Zhongshan Park in a bid to tackle shoplifters and other thieves, police in Changning District said yesterday.

This marks an expansion of an initiative — the first of its kind in the city — introduced in Zhongshan Park's landmark Cloud Nine shopping and entertainment mall in 2012.

Teams consisting of one police officer and one security guard undertake regular patrols around Cloud Nine between 10am and 10pm, said Wang Wei, a police official at the Zhongshan Park area.

In addition, store and restaurant staff assist police as security volunteers.

According to Changning police figures, there was a 50 percent fall in reports of pickpocketing and purse-snatching in Cloud Nine during the just-ended weeklong National Day holiday, compared to 2013.

Patrols ensure that if sales staff or security guards see anyone behaving suspiciously, they can alert police quickly, said officials.

Security cameras are another vital weapon in the battle against theft in shopping malls, they added.

The Zhongshan Park area has more than 3,000 cameras installed — including 1,700 in Cloud Nine.

Hu Dadong, an officer with Changning police, told Shanghai Daily that each new store that opens in Cloud Nine is asked to install cameras at entrances and exits, cash desks and emergency exits.

"Stores used to install cameras only at the cash desks. Now we instruct them to ensure the safety of all major areas," Hu said.

Stock going missing

Lu Weijie, a manager at Carrefour, said the supermarket now has 128 cameras.

"In the past, we only had two cameras in the vegetable section, where customers sometimes used both hands to pick up vegetables but then neglected to put their hand into their purse," Lu said.

"Now that we've added another four we seldom see stock going missing in this section.

"We also share suspects' pictures with other Carrefour branches," Lu added.

Stores themselves are not the only favored spots for thieves.

At Cloud Nine, elevators, car parks, restaurants and exits to Metro stations are all areas where thefts occur.

In July, police officer Guo Min saw a man acting suspiciously, carrying a large backpack up fire escape stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Guo questioned the man and searched his bag. Inside, he found the tools of a thief's trade — including a crowbar, screwdriver, wrench and tweezers.

The man confessed to breaking into cars parked at the mall.

"Some people think it's safe to leave their valuables in their car if they're only going to shop for a short time, but that's not true," police official Wang said.

Cloud Nine security guards are being trained by police, mainly honing their skills detecting thieves on surveillance videos. Officers say they plan to train guards from other malls.

There are 130 security guards at Cloud Nine, with 30 on duty at any one time.

Since 2012, of 356 theft suspects held by police in the Zhongshan Park area, 177 of them were apprehended by security guards in Cloud Nine, according to officials.