LA Harbor News

Fewer crimes are committed at Lakewood Center per 100,000 visitors each year than at other shopping malls surveyed in the south Los Angeles County region.

An average of 2.1 crimes per 100,000 visitors occurred at neighboring major shopping malls compared to only 1.2 crimes at Lakewood Center, based on statistics newly compiled for 2021-22.

“Creating a safe environment at Lakewood Center is a priority for the City of Lakewood, and we’re glad the statistics bear out that our efforts in partnership with the mall and the Sheriff’s Department work,” said Mayor Steve Croft.

Steps that the city and Lakewood Center take in partnership to ensure safety:

• The city and Lakewood Center partner to provide Deputy Sheriffs to patrol the center year-round. 
• Over the past year, Lakewood Deputy Sheriffs have stepped up proactive policing at the mall, focusing on spotting potential suspicious behavior.
• The mall’s own security team and Lakewood Deputy Sheriffs jointly staff a Safety Center at the mall for maximum collaboration. 
• While specifics of the Lakewood Center security program are confidential, it is a highly trained and impressive team. It includes undercover personnel who provide an extra level of protection for shoppers.
• Lakewood Center Security Officers go beyond securing Lakewood Center; they also provide valuable customer service. For example, mall Security Officers have been honored at Lakewood’s Award of Valor event for life-saving measures performed on a guest having a medical emergency at the mall.  

“Lakewood Center has been extremely important to the economic health of our community since it opened as America’s largest shopping mall in the 1950s,” said Croft. “As statistics show, Lakewood Center remains a very safe place to shop, and I hope Lakewood residents will continue to make it a place they visit and patronize for their convenience, personal benefit and the economic betterment of our community.”

Original source can be found here.