PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

Terror training program helps keep malls safe

By Dees Stribling

Until recently, the training of shopping center security personnel in terrorism awareness techniques has been an ad hoc process, entirely dependent on individual mall owners using various methods and teaching tools.

The word “awareness,” in casual use, refers merely to a level of knowledge or understanding. In this context the term refers to a course of study familiarizing mall security staff with methods of understanding, detecting and acting upon the threat of terrorism.

In the spring a standardized program was rolled out across the country for mall security workers of every stripe. The Shopping Center Security Terrorism Awareness Training program, developed jointly by ICSC and the Homeland Security Policy Institute of George Washington University, is customized for the retail property industry; its training modules stress real-life situations that mall workers could encounter.

The program is based on Department of Homeland Security guidelines and consists of 10 training modules, including coverage of behavioral awareness, biological agents, chemical terrorism, explosives, radiological/nuclear terrorism and suicide terrorism. Students of the DVD-based course receive an access password and a guidebook useful for the course and also as a job aid. The modules total 14 hours.

“Traditionally, mall security has been more concerned about crime than terrorism, but, recently, it’s become clear that the threat of terrorism needs to be addressed by mall ownership in a consistent way,” said Malachy Kavanagh, ICSC’s vice president of communications and external relations. “The trouble was, there was no existing program to offer that kind of standard security training.”

The mall security managers on the ICSC Security Committee in particular were concerned about this lack of a uniform shopping center training program. The committee worked with George Washington University to craft the program over the past year, with ICSC footing the bill to the tune of about $2 million. “The need was certainly there,” said David Levenberg, vice president of security and loss prevention at General Growth Properties and chairman of the ICSC Security Committee. “We’d recognized for some time the need for consistency and quality in terrorism awareness training in the industry. It isn’t in the best interest of the industry or the public to rely on each owner’s inclinations in the matter.”

A standardized course with measurable results will generate a higher level of awareness throughout the industry, says Levenberg. “The Department of Homeland Security has developed an eight-hour terrorism awareness training course for the private sector, but it’s very basic,” he said. “The course developed for mall security personnel by ICSC and GWU is to the same level and complexity as government-mandated training for first responders: police, firefighters and others.”

The program is the creation of numerous experts. “The team who put the program together represents a cross section of public safety experts combining book knowledge with experience in the field with terrorism,” said Paul Maniscalco, a George Washington University senior research scientist who helped devise the program. “The team’s combined experience goes back well before September 11, 2001. One team member or another, in fact, has been involved in responding, investigating or recovering from every major terrorist attack in the United States since 1979.” Moreover, the program designers consulted authorities in Israel, Russia, Spain and the U.K., all of which have experienced attacks inside retail properties. “We wanted the training to have as much real-life focus as possible,” Maniscalco said.

An independent review board vetted the program, as is necessary to meet Homeland Security standards for courses of this kind. The board comprised eight members, drawn from the law enforcement, fire service, hazardous-materials handling, emergency management and online security fields. Their job was to “relentlessly dissect, examine and critique” the program before its use, according to the creators.

The training modules do not confine themselves to incidents involving retail properties. The module on explosives, for instance, teaches students about their use in the bombings of the Khobar Towers Facility, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in 1996, and the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1998, among other incidents.

The program uses the acronym “RAIN” as a memory device, as in recognition of a threat, avoidance, isolation of or from a threat, and notification of authorities.

Surveillance techniques form another crucial part of the training, of course. “Prior to the actual attack, criminals and terrorists seek to remain undetected. … [H]owever, there may be small clues that suggest a potential threat,” reads the module on suicide attacks. “While one clue may not be a cause of concern, even one should increase the level of vigilance.”

The training uses re-enactments of real-life scenarios, some of which were performed in actual malls. “That’s an important component in the training, because it helps students visualize what to look for and how to respond,” said Maniscalco. “It makes a connection to their everyday working environment.”

Testing is an important component of the training. The course begins with a pre-test to establish a benchmark of student knowledge. After each module, a quiz reinforces the learning, and at the end of the course is a final exam. A passing score on it earns the student a certificate of completion.

Among the students who have taken a preliminary version of the course as of this January, the mean score of the pre-test was about 70.7 percent correct. The mean post-test score was 81.8 percent correct, for a performance improvement of about 15.6 percent. “It’s critical to measure student performance throughout the course,” said Maniscalco. “The preliminary results are encouraging because performance improvement results that high are remarkably good for any training program.”

ICSC plans to distribute roughly 22,000 course DVDs. So far the organization has received applications for about 19,000 disks, says Kavanagh. “The industry has embraced the program,” he said. “It’s a difficult subject that needs to be addressed, but there really isn’t any other program that distills the subject in this way.”

The security staff at General Growth are looking forward to the program, says Levenberg. “Everyone knows that heightened awareness of terrorism is important, and everyone has had some training in this area,” he said. “But we also know that the program will help take us to the next level, and one that will be standard in the industry.”