Township Receives Grant As Emphasis Once Again Placed On Mall Security

Just about nine years after the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the state is looking for additional security measures in commercial malls, and Bridgewater is one location that will benefit from that move.

The township has recently received a grant of federal money that has been allocated to Bridgewater and other municipalities from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. To qualify, the municipalities had to have a commercial business of a certain size within their borders.

The Bridgewater Commons Mall was one of the main places considered.

After Sept. 11, 2001, Bridgewater Township Police Chief Richard Borden said, certain places in the state were designated on different tiers determining possible dangers from terrorism. Malls, he said, were once a tier-two, but, several years later, were removed from that danger level.

"But now there has been more emphasis on them," he said.

Borden said he does not know why the additional emphasis has been placed on malls again, but that the state is looking to reallocate funds to increase security in these locations.

As for the grant itself, it was mainly spearheaded by Bridgewater Township Police Capt. Manny Caravela, who said that 13 counties were eligible to apply for the grant money because they are regions containing commercial malls. He said he heard about the grant opportunity from the township's Office of Emergency Management coordinator.

"The police department and state made recommendations about what security measures could be taken," said Bridgewater Commons Mall General Manager Troy Fischer. "Then the police wrote the grant application, and pools of available money were allocated to different places."

Among other criteria, Caravela said, the malls chosen had to be more than 850,000 square feet in size.

"A lot of malls didn't qualify, and there were only 26 that did," he said, adding that the Bridgewater Commons Mall is more than 900,000 square feet in total. "The state was also looking at demographics, population in towns and the number of peak customers."

Also required, Caravela said, was a complete partnership between the police department and the mall staff.

"The staff met with us, and they had to be on board 100 percent with what we were doing," he said.

Through the grant, the township will receive $291,104 for increased security measures at the mall.

These measures, Borden said, will mostly be technology-related, and most likely will not involve additional personnel. He said he does not think the money could cover the costs of salaries.

"Everything will be technology-related, like surveillance, rather than something you could overtly see," he said.

Caravela said the township is hoping to go out to bid for the technology in about 60 days, and possibly have all new equipment ready within six months.

Bridgewater Township Administrator Jim Naples said such security measures could include a closed-circuit television system, barriers for the mall and a better public address system.

"Some of these measures are already in place, and we are in pretty good shape," Caravela said.

The Bridgewater Township Council unanimously approved a resolution at the Sept. 2 meeting to approve the addition of the grant money into the 2010 budget.

"This grant is for better preventing soft targets in the event of a potential emergency," Naples said. "It is for looking at suspicious activity and other instances."

Although Borden declined to release any details, he said the police department did deal with two recent bomb scares at the mall, one on Saturday and the other on Monday. He said the two scares were called in to the department, which is currently investigating the situation and has some leads.

"There was no reason for an evacuation, and no disturbance," he said, adding that the calls to the department were to alert the mall that something would occur there. "There was no validity to the calls, and nothing exploded obviously."

With the grant now in place, Fischer said the police will proceed with the additional security work at the mall, and that he supports the new measures for the safety of the employees and customers.

"Anything that can enhance the police department [is good]," he said. "It is a benefit to us and anyone who visits here."