Officials Say Monroeville Mall Safer Than Ever for Holiday Season

MONROEVILLE (KDKA) -- When you think Monroeville Mall, what comes to mind?

The unruly fight among teens last December –- or the unarmed robbery of three mall stores -- or a shoot-out between rival gangs at Macy's last February?

"This is a safe mall for Pittsburgh families," insisted Monroeville Mall general manager Tom Gerber on Friday.

Assuring families that today's Monroeville Mall is safe is a key message for this holiday season, says Gerber.

"You are as safe here as any other shopping center," Gerber told KDKA money editor Jon Delano. "Again we employ and work closely with the police department. We have a security team that is very involved. We've recently as part of some additional measures instituted a state of the art camera system."

On Friday, with little ones in the audience and a favorite peace-maker, Santa Claus, making an early appearance, officials touted lots of physical renovations, along with upgraded security better than other malls.

"If you come to Monroeville or Monroeville Mall to be a jerk, you're probably going to be filmed somewhere around here," noted Sean Logan, former mayor and now president of the Monroeville Chamber of Commerce and Visit Monroeville.

Cameras are everywhere, and it's hard to miss security guards visible in their park ranger-like uniforms.

Teens are now banned from the mall without an adult on Friday and Saturday evenings.

With a police substation on site, Monroeville Councilman Ron Harvey, a former police officer, says local police are on top of security.

"Obviously they can't know about everything, but they do have people that work the internet sites," Harvey said. "They have people that work the Facebook sites. They try to get pre-warned about this stuff if they see it out there. But nobody is going to get everything."

Local patrons say they feel safer than ever.

"I notice, like, more security. They got the police station here. That's a good thing," said Maliek Wilson of South Side.

"I feel quite safe here. I don't feel that there are any problems that can't be taken care of by the police and the security guards here," added Mary Carol Rusinko of Turtle Creek.

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