Saugus officer is thin blue line at Square One Mall

SAUGUS – The Square One Mall in Saugus sees an average of 10 million shoppers a year.With that kind of foot traffic, the need for greater police presence became obvious to mall management.As a result, a partnership was forged in March 2009 between the mall and the police department to pay for one officer to work alongside the mall?s security team, along with the purchase of a new cruiser.Since then, Susan Yee, general manager of the Square One Mall said the partnership has worked out well for both, reducing the number of responses made by the police to the mall and increasing security measures to keep shoppers safe.?This wasn?t a reactive measure, it was more of a proactive measure which continues to have success in reducing crime at the mall,” she said. “However, I?ve been here for four years and I haven?t had significant issues of crime.”Saugus Police Detective Thomas Gaeta, who was tapped to fill the position at the mall, said crime typically spikes during the holidays and mainly involves theft of merchandise. With his presence, the strain has since been lessened on the police force?s response.?It?s a benefit to the department with me being here since they don?t have to send a car to respond (to incidents) and it also frees up other officers out on the streets,” he said.While most crimes that occur in the mall are due to shoplifting, another recurrent crime is breaking and entering into vehicles in the parking lots.Because of that, Yee said she has come across people at times who worry about the mall?s safety. But she stressed the mall is indeed a safe place to visit.?People sometimes see a lot of kids and make assumptions, but those kids could be honor?s kids,” she said. “The mall is like its own little town and we keep it extremely safe.”Gaeta, a veteran of the police department, does a daily walk-through of stores, speaks to employees and is quick to spot a would-be thief. Once a month, Gaeta and the rest of the security team take part in a Retail Awareness Committee meeting with store owners to chat about shoplifting and ways they can improve combined efforts.?Sometimes it may not be a police matter that the store owners want to talk about, it could just be something that concerns them,” Gaeta said.The security office, located on the first floor of the mall near Sears, is equipped with two Segways and a T-3 for mall patrols.While Yee and Gaeta had a hard time recalling any out of the ordinary arrests at the mall, Yee chuckled at one instance involving the Saugus High School cheerleading team.?We found out that they were doing a scavenger hunt in the mall after one of them asked to take a picture with a security guard,” she quipped. “And then they were caught building a human pyramid near the food court, so they got kicked out.”