Posted on 04/11/2009 7:33:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If you've ever arrived home safely from a shopping spree, thank a mall cop.
Tom Walton of AlliedBarton Security Services, one of the nation's largest providers of mall security professionals, complains that his people aren't getting any respect from Hollywood filmmakers who increasingly portray them as dorks, slackers and wannabe police officers.
"These hard-working, highly trained men and women are our country's first responders who have a wide range of skills — from the sensitivity to deal with lost children to the ability to address criminal activity," Walton wrote in an article carried in several publications.
As if malls didn't have enough trouble with the recession, "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is the top-grossing movie of 2009 with more than $142 million in box-office receipts in the U.S., according to boxofficemojo.com.
And now comes the release of "Observe and Report," an R-rated contribution to the loser mall-cop genre that hit theaters Friday.
Here, Seth Rogen plays "Ronnie Barnhardt," a 20-something mall cop who lives with his drunken mom and must stop a pale, chubby, trench-coated flasher from terrorizing shoppers.
"This disgusting pervert is the best thing that's ever happened to me," Barnhardt declares in the film's trailer. "This is my chance to be great."
Getting hassled by mall security is a right of passage for American teens. These films are what can happen when mall cops go too far, for too long.
"Those people are now adults and they are making these movies," said Walton, a vice president of national accounts at AlliedBarton. (And please note that it's AlliedBarton, not Blart-on.)
The privately held security services contractor, based Conshohocken, Pa., employs 55,000 people, including more than 6,000 mall security guards who make between $9 and $15 an hour, plus benefits, Walton said.
Despite their looming presence, shoplifting has risen dramatically at retailers across the country, thanks to organized crime, the recession, and online auction sites that make it all-too-easy to fence stolen goods.
Last month, federal agents raided the San Marcos, Calif., home of Laura and Matthew Eaton, who went on the "Dr. Phil" TV show in November and bragged about making $100,000 ripping off stores. They said they used their three young children as cover, and then sold their loot on eBay. They even provided video of one of their shoplifting sprees. Yet, so far, no arrests have been made.
Being a mall cop is getting to be a lonely job. Increasingly, mall cops find themselves strolling past empty store fronts.
Vacancy rates at malls and shopping centers have hit a 10-year high, according to a report from New York-based real-estate research firm Reis Inc. released this week. At regional and super-regional malls, vacancies have risen from 5.4 percent in 2000 to 7.9 percent this year.
The recession has pushed a slew of retailers into bankruptcy or outright liquidation, including department store chains, Gottschalks Inc., Boscov's Department Store LLC, and Mervyn's LLC. Then there's KB Toys Inc.; gadget peddler Sharper Image Corp.; apparel retailer Goody's LLC; electronics chain Circuit City Stores Inc.; household wares sellers Linens 'N Things; and The Shane Co., a jeweler with stores in 14 states.
Slumping sales have solvent retailers closing stores, too. Reis' research director, Victor Calanog, said he expects mall vacancies to continue rising all year.
The nation's second-largest mall owner, Chicago-based General Growth Properties, teeters on the brink of bankruptcy as it struggles to restructure its debts.
The nation's largest mall owner, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc., last month defaulted with its partners on a $124 million balloon mortgage payment on The Mall at the Source in Westbury, N.Y.
"I do want to say this about malls," said David Simon, chief executive of Simon Property, at an investors' conference in Naples, Fla., last month. "The No. 1 movie in America year to date is Mall Cop.
"You don't hear about self-storage cop, industrial cop or strip-center cop. You do hear about malls because malls are the fabric of America," Simon said.
Mall cops continue to maintain that fabric, sometimes enforcing mall curfews on teenagers, or stopping young delinquents from filming daredevil stunts for YouTube, like skateboarding down escalators or jumping off second-floor walkways.
And then there's terrorism. Remember after 9/11 how we feared that someone would spread anthrax or smallpox at a mall? This never happened.
"Next time your path crosses with a security officer at your local mall, consider thanking him or her," said Walton. "While Hollywood continues to paint security officers as comedic caricatures with delusions of grandeur real world shoppers find comfort and satisfaction in knowing that trained security professionals are on the job."
Mall security is important.
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And don’t forget those pet detectives and mediums, too.
Big BUMP in agreement.
Worth repeating BUMP!
/johnny
One of my managerial duties is to direct the actions of 11 people who perfom this duty day in and day out, I can tell you that I cringe at the idea of more Hollywood insults aimed at those who try to maintain a sense of order.
Ou people have helped the injured, sick, elderly and stranded more times than I count. They’ve also bravely confronted the agressive and annoying in an effort to make life more livable for the rest of us.
My officers are trained in everthing from emergency spll response, First Aid /AED, to coordination with local authorities for an active shooter. Recently, we’ve even trained our staff on how to identify chem/ bio events. They are also very adept in knowing the legal limits of thier own authority.
Granted, the training in some of the more technical areas is cursory and generalized, but I’d be willing to bet that more than one parent has thanked God for a mall cop when thier kid wandered away in a crowded mall. It’s amazing how quickly all-hands begin searching in earnest to find the little tikes.
They can even jump start your car for you. The list goes on and on.
I grew up in a nearby town. I remember Conshohocken as a blue-collar, working class town, but it made itself later into a business center with lots of big office buildings.
I agree with you - I was raised to believe "an honest job is a good job."
Sure, but not at 9 bucks an hour.
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