Beware of crime at malls

A number of incidents that clearly show a pattern have been circulating the e-mails. One of the commercial establishments mentioned in the incidents sent me a letter detailing the steps they have been doing to minimize the occurrence of these petty crimes, which we are printing in this column.

Some of the incidents in the e-mails are also reproduced in this column. We hope that parents will be vigilant not only in reminding their children on how to deal with harassment, but also taking measures such as discouraging the kids from bringing expensive items to the malls.

Some modus operandi

The simplest case is described by one parent as follows: “At Timezone (Mall of Asia), a teen-aged boy started harassing my kids as they busily played a car racing video game. … Later on, we discovered he was successful at ‘pickpocketing’ my kids’ wallet and cell phone.

The next is more complex, and was sent by another parent. “Ashley was victimized at Timezone in Glorietta. She was with her friend while we were waiting for her at Jollibee.

“A woman approached her and said that she was her mom’s friend and that her mom asked her to bring her to try on some clothes. She also asked for the cell phone of Ashley’s friend which the girl gave. She was brought to SM Makati, and was asked to try on some clothes while she held on to Ashley’s bag. She even asked for the diamond earrings which Ashley was wearing.

“When Ash looked out, the girl was gone already.”

This third incident already has harassment involved. Familiarize your kids with how these criminals work. “My son was playing with four of his friends at Timezone (Greenhills Theater Mall). A guy then approached my son and started scolding him that he was destroying the machine and he could be penalized for P100,000.

“The guy told my son to go with him to the Greenhills office to clear his name. They went out of Timezone and went to the V-mall food court. … The guy told my son that he could not bring his things to the Greenhills office, so he brought out a plastic bag and asked him to put his PSP, cell phone and wallet into the plastic bag.

“He asked my son to seat and wait for him. That guy then went to talk with one of the personnel in Quantum, making it appear that he is depositing my son’s things with the Quantum personnel. My son waited for maybe 10 minutes, and the guy disappeared.

“My son approached several Quantum personnel and asked if somebody left a plastic bag with him. The Quantum personnel told my son that he was robbed and the guy will not come back anymore. Realizing that he had been fooled, my son rushed back to our store in Promenade.”

Finally, the most harrowing experience is shared by this parent. “Renzo and three of his classmates were going to practice at our home. Their meeting place was Trinoma Mall at 1 p.m. Renzo was accompanied by his elder brother till the time that Renzo was with his classmates. Renzo, already with two classmates, Ram and Aaron, waited for Richard, the third classmate at Olympic Village on the 4th floor.

“While waiting, they went through soccer balls and boxing gloves. Soon after they received a text message from third classmate Richard who was now waiting for them at Seattle’s Best, 1st floor. They proceeded to meet Richard and as soon as they were complete, they headed for our home but then a man approached them and identified himself as an employee of Olympic Village and even flashed an ID to the boys. The man informed them that they damaged an item and that they should follow him back to the store.

“The man narrated every move the boys made, and true enough one of them accidentally dropped a soccer ball. Before leaving Seattle’s Best, Richard, the last classmate to arrive was told to stay behind and wait for their return.

“The man then brought the three boys to the 4th floor cinema area. Ram and Aaron were told to give Renzo all their belongings (three cell phones including Renzo’s, an IPOD, a PSP and two wallets) and were ordered by the man to go to the restroom to wash their hands before the investigation. The boys followed as ordered. When they returned, Renzo and the man were no longer there.

“At home, I received a phone call that every parent feared: “Ma’am, this is Ram, Renzo’s classmate. Ma’am, si Renzo po is missing.” … I quickly headed to Trinoma to meet with them. I was scared; I called on the Lord, my dad and my mother-in-law to please keep my son safe. When I arrived at the Security office, my prayers were answered. There was Renzo, scared, pale, shaken up and in tears but most importantly safe and unharmed.”

Timezone’s response

In response, Timezone’s management team detailed what they were doing to address the issue surrounding the recent petty crimes in some of their outlets. Here are parts of the letter signed by Rafael Prats Jr., Timezone president:

“Although we remain as vigilant as can be against potential unsavory elements in our outlets and we already have certain security measures in place, we have added the following additional measures to provide better security for our patrons:

“We are adding more security cameras in selected stores with posted signs informing the public that the stores are protected by surveillance cameras. We hope that these posted signs shall serve as a deterrent to petty crimes in our stores. We also anticipate that these cameras will record how these petty crimes are being perpetuated so that we can draft effective counter measures against them.

“We have installed reminders on all our amusement machines cautioning customers to mind their belongings. Not only are these posted via stickers in our machines and store counters, these are likewise installed in our electronic swiper displays which each machine has.

“All store staff are on alert and vigilant against any unusual activity that might occur. Our personnel are on hand to remind unaccompanied children to deal only with uniformed Timezone personnel and to approach them if they are put in any awkward, improper or unmanageable situation by strangers while inside the store premises.

“All our outlets now have signs with a list of precautionary safety reminders, and we occasionally give out leaflets to Timezone patrons containing this list of safety reminders as well. Our staff also have handy laminated signs that they show to potential victims, again reminding them to be mindful of their belongings.

“We have re-briefed assigned “spotters” to watch out for anything suspicious at our stores. These spotters’ main task is to identify potential victims and reduce the possibility of them being victimized by informing them how to better take care of their belongings.

“We have met with our security agency and have discussed further measures that can be provided for by the security guards assigned in our stores. We are now holding security briefing seminars (for our staff) as handled by our security agencies.

“… Sadly, a few thieves still manage to evade our security measures and victimize our patrons and hence we are challenging ourselves to even be more vigilant in catching these thieves or removing the opportunity for them to victimize our patrons.”

For the sake of our children, I hope that we are able to pick up some lessons from the sad experience of others.

‘Sweet 16’ is down to four

The road to the national collegiate championship is coming to an end. Out of 212 collegiate teams from all over the country that participated in the journey, only four remain to try and reach the highest goal in college basketball.

Watch the semi-finals at the Arena, San Juan City, tomorrow starting at 2 p.m., as Ateneo meets Letran and San Beda battles with De La Salle. Winners of these games will play for the national title on Monday, Dec. 8, at the Araneta Coliseum.   

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year presented by Smart, PLDT, FilOil Flying V and KFC, visit the official website, www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net and www.gameface.ph, internet media partner of PCCL.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.