Monroeville Mall upgrades security, police call brawl 'isolated incident'
More police officers will patrol Monroeville Mall on Friday and Saturday as a result of chaotic brawls that forced stores to close early the day after Christmas.
The mall will increase the number of off-duty officers from the usual one to four, Monroeville police Chief Doug Cole said Tuesday. He wasn't sure whether the elevated presence would continue after Saturday.
“We'll let the mall make a decision on how many people (are) necessary,” Cole said. He said the mall will pay for the officers.
Cole met Tuesday with Mayor Greg Erosenko and mall management to discuss security. More than 1,000 teenagers converged on the mall Friday afternoon in a flash mob organized over social media that ended with an evacuation of the mall and two teens being taken to a local hospital.
Monroeville police will open an office at the mall soon, Cole said. He was planning to do so before the fights and now wants the office in place by the end of January. Officers working security — usually one on weekends — or responding to calls at the mall will be able to use the office.
“We're not going to be able to staff it continuously,” Cole said.
Monroeville police have maintained similar offices there at various times since the 1990s. The most recent one closed a few years ago because the mall needed the space.
Ron Harvey, a Monroeville fire chief and councilman assigned to council's public safety committee, said he knew of only one other time the mall was evacuated — the result of a chemical leak in the 1980s. He said the size of the flash mob and the violence that ensued across the mall were so unusual that trying to base security procedures on what happened will be difficult.
“How do you make a plan for something that only happens every 40 years?” Harvey said.
Mall spokeswoman Stacey Keating said she expected improvements to security based on Tuesday's discussions but declined to elaborate.
Cole said he expects charges to be filed related to two fights. As of Tuesday, an 18-year-old woman had been charged with disorderly conduct. Cole declined to identify her. Police continue to investigate what prompted the fights.
Gideon Bradshaw is a Trib Total Media staff writer.
