(By Steve Reed, the Security and Guest Services Manager for the Arden Fair Mall – Published by CALSAGA, the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies)
Arden Fair Mall has implemented a license plate reader program in partnership with the Sacramento Police Department (SPD) that has generated strong results to date. It is the first partnership in the nation where private security has been able to scan plates and be connected to the local police department who receives the information.
Arden Fair Mall has installed the PlateScan license plate readers on three mall security vehicles. Security receives daily downloads of “hot lists” of vehicles of interest from the Department of Justice, facilitated by the SPD. The mall security team reviews CCTV footage and tracks suspects after they leave their vehicle, once specific license plates are highlighted. They observe and report, and then contact law enforcement for apprehension. In addition to stolen vehicles, the license plate readers also afford the mall team the capability to find misplaced vehicles.
Law Enforcement now has the ability to use the large database of captured plates, all of which are time and date stamped, as an investigative tool for any incident that has occurred in the lots. The project has been approved by both the Sacramento Police Department and the Department of Justice.
The Mall was the recipient of two grants from Homeland Security (totaling $100,000) which made this program possible. As a result, over 1 million plates have been scanned in the parking lots in the six months since its implementation. These scans have assisted law enforcement in recovering seventeen stolen vehicles; eleven of which ended in arrests. Those eleven arrests led to the recovery of altered drivers licenses, stolen credit cards, stolen mail and fresh theft arrests inside the mall.
Arden Fair Mall, a member of the Macerich Company, is located just minutes from downtown Sacramento and the State Capitol. Arden Fair Mall serves a trade area that spans a 25-mile radius and includes over 1.1 million residents in 432,000 households.
