Fresno Fashion Fair shoppers want clothes, jewelry, not gunplay. Security must improve
It used to be that the biggest challenge on a trip to Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno was to find a parking spot not too far from an entrance.
Now it is to keep from getting shot or stabbed. Or, at least, that is the perception. The vast majority of shoppers at Fresno’s main mall get their business done without trouble. But some highly publicized crimes of late have put Fashion Fair in the news for all the wrong reasons.
At 6:20 p.m. Sunday, a teen was stabbed in an armpit during a fight just outside the JC Penney store. Another person sustained a concussion. A 27-year-old man found hiding in a mall bathroom was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Earlier this month a group of teens approached another young person at a mall entrance and demanded his belongings. The teens then pulled a gun on the victim.
Another altercation in the mall involved shots being fired. That confrontation, almost a year ago, led to part of Fashion Fair being evacuated.
And, in the non-criminal but disturbing nonetheless, a body was discovered Monday in some bushes near the JC Penney store. Police said the dead person was not a crime victim, but may have instead overdosed on drugs.
Mall safety
All that negative news can foster an impression in the public that Fashion Fair is a dangerous place to visit, day or night. That impression would be incorrect, according to Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama.
He said 600,000 visits are made to the mall each month. The vast majority of them are threat-free, danger-free trips.
What has gotten the public’s attention, especially over the past holiday season, were brazen robberies at malls in Southern California and the Bay Area. Hordes of robbers, most with faces covered, would run into high-end retailers and jewelry stores, smash display cases open, then run out with merchandise.
In a survey of four California cities — Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco — researchers found increases in property and violent crimes in 2021, compared to 2020.
While those places are not Fresno, the perception of the news-consuming public is that crime is once again going up in California. For that reason, dealing with crime has become a top political concern for state and local elected officials alike.
More officers
To augment safety and improve public perception, Balderrama and Mayor Jerry Dyer jointly said Monday that policing will be ramped up at Fashion Fair Mall.
Right now, the mall contracts with Fresno police for two officers to be on site during business hours. Balderrama plans to meet with Fashion Fair representatives to recommend they add another officer.
Balderrama would have good cause to ask that the mall pay for two more, bringing the total to four officers in place when stores are open. A sad truth is that simply is the cost of doing business in today’s climate, one Fashion Fair can ill afford not to pay.
The mall is a key retail spot in Fresno. It is home to Macy’s biggest stores in town, along with the Apple store (the only one in the central San Joaquin Valley), H and M, JC Penney and other retailers, including numerous jewelry stores.
Maybe the heightened security can ramp down after six months or so. It all depends on getting the message out to troublemakers that they will be arrested if they try something dumb at the mall.
In the meantime, the mall owner and Fresno police have the challenge of convincing the public that Fashion Fair is safe for shopping.
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