What are some of the retail stores in your center?
We have Gap, Tommy Bahama, Montblanc, and bebe. There are 130 stores and fourteen restaurants. We do not have a food court
as a regular mall would, but we do have some restaurants that offer lunch specials. The restaurants include Commander's
Palace, which is famous in New Orleans, La Salsa Cantina, Lombardi's Romagna Mia, and we even have a Nestlé Toll House Café.
So, it is a wide range of restaurants.
Do you have a lot of visitors?
We average just under 40,000 visitors a day. Usually, Monday through Thursday we have over 20,000 visitors. On the weekends,
we can have 50,000 to 60,000 visitors. If there is a big event in Las Vegas, we can have upwards of 90,000 visitors a day.
In fact, we opened in August of 2000, and had our 1,000,000th customer in three weeks. We get a lot of traffic through here.
We sit right on the 50-yard line of Las Vegas Boulevard. Unlike most malls, and The Forum Shops at Caesar’s, we have two
entrances straight off of Las Vegas Boulevard. So, we are open to many people walking by. We are located right across from
the Bellagio Hotel.
How is your building set up?
Desert Passage is a shopping center that surrounds the Aladdin Hotel and Casino much like The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.
It is basically a typical shopping center without a major anchor like JC Penney or Sears. But, we have almost 500,000 square
feet of leasable space. So, it is a typical shopping center.
Is the security force for just the shopping center?
We are the security for the shopping center and the parking garage. We have nine separate docks, and an underground ring-road
system that we try to get the traffic on for the hotel and valet parking so they do not get mixed up with the customers
for the parking lot.
How many security officers do you have?
We have 28, down from 50. We cut down because when we first opened we thought we would need more because of the traffic.
But, after looking at our incident level and incidents in the mall, we did not think we needed that kind of coverage anymore.
How do you use The PIPE?
There are anywhere from four to nine officers on a shift depending on the day of the week and the activity that is going
on. Our tours are constant. Unlike some places that use only one wand, each of our officers carries a wand, so the tours
are random. I use the tours for the daily activity report. Each officer is required to hit one button at least every ten
to fifteen minutes. But, they usually hit two or three in that time period. I am able to track where they are throughout
the day.
Where do the officers patrol?
There are three areas that we patrol. We have the parking garage, the electrical rooms and our docks, and then we have our
back corridor for the mall, which we consider a sensitive area. Those are done once an hour in order. An officer will call
in and say that they are starting the tour and go in order to those places. But, other than that, the tours are random.
As an officer goes by a button they will hit it. We have buttons at the entrances to the mall, on each level of the parking
garage, at all of our electrical rooms – which we have eight of, and on all of our docks – which we have nine of. We also
have buttons in our main corridor, which is our back area for delivery for all of the shops. So, that way, in this time
when we are on heightened alert, they are checking the areas that would be vulnerable to suspicious activity or an attack.
Do you have any buttons in the main shopping area?
Yes, we have eighteen of them in the main shopping area. Most of them are in the fire department valve connection boxes.
This serves two purposes. One is so that while they are patrolling the area, they are looking around. It is also so that
they can make sure connections are free of debris, and that there is a fire extinguisher in each of those boxes. A future
plan for us is to have a button in each fire extinguisher cabinet and then use the tour system as a fire extinguisher check
once a month. We have about 120 buttons total, currently.
Do you have a high incidence of theft?
We really do not get too much into that because the security for the mall is to protect the property and the common area.
The individual shops handle shoplifting. But, by having the buttons in the common area, it makes the officers very visible
and tends to lessen shoplifting.
How did you find Guard1 Plus?
I have used different systems in the past. Guard1 Plus was recommended to us, and we absolutely
love the system. It is very easy to carry. The PIPE is very durable. The buttons are very
concealable and are not obtrusive, but are very durable. So, we just fell in love with the system.
How do you like the reports?
They are fantastic. They are detailed with the officer's name, the time that they were in the area and where the button
is located. So, there is never a question or a problem with accountability.
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