COLORADO SPRINGS — The Citadel Mall recently implemented safety upgrades to welcome military members and their families back to the mall.
The changes include the following:
- AI surveillance cameras
- emergency PA system repair
- ongoing lighting repairs
- increase of overall security hours by 53 hours/week
- armed security seven days/week
WATCH: Safety changes at The Citadel Mall after years of extensive News5 coverage
These improvements are impacting business and visitors at the mall. When visitors walk through the doors of The Citadel Mall, if they look up, they will see security cameras placed at the entrance. It's one way mall owners plan to make this place safer.
News5 talked with people who come here and work here about what they think about these new security upgrades.
“This is not a bad place to come and shop,” said Patrick "Pat Da Barber" Valliere, a barber who's been at The Citadel Mall since 2022 said.
It's the message Valliere and customers in The Citadel Mall want people to know.
“This is our community, and we live in this community, so we have to take care of it,” said Valliere. “It's great, we have the best location for us because it's lot of foot traffic."
He said there is a misconception that The Citadel Mall is a dangerous place.
“It's not a bunch of animosity amongst the shoppers and people who come here and stuff, and because they usually hear they bring their families,” said Valliere.
He wants people to feel safe to shop at The Citadel Mall.
“This is the mall, you know, like, I say, people don't meet up here to hash out their differences, you know, it's just isolated incidences that... happened here, and the mall can't control that,” said Valliere.
The mall has recently implemented security upgrades, including more cameras and security officers.
“I think it's a great idea, because... you need to put out a presence and let it be seen that we do care about an individual. Here we care about security,” said James Flowers, who has been shopping at The Citadel Mall with his family for 15 years. “Yeah I feel safe coming here. My kids have come here with me while I am walking through the mall with them, getting my hair cut or shopping and my kids have come here by themselves."
He questions why people think the mall is an unsafe place to go.
“If this mall is so dangerous, why are our elderly, our special needs and our youth walking through here consistently at all times and all days? Is the mall dangerous, or are things going in the city dangerous?” asks Flowers.
Valliere said the mall had made the necessary upgrades and he said his barber shop is a safe place.
“We don't stand for riffraff here and negativity. We try to stay positive... we encourage everybody and stuff, and, you know, keep everybody uplifted,” said Valliere.
He said students on their lunch break will come visit him and other businesses in the mall.
“We have kids that come from the... school... They'll come and they say hello... every day on their lunch break, they'll come in and hug us and say, hello. This is a safe place for them to be, you know, without anybody you know messing with them in a negative way,” said Valliere.
He said it comes down to everyone playing a part to keeping the mall, the kids who shop here, and the business inside a secure place.
“Security can only do so much and stuff. I mean, we can't have, you know, eyes everywhere and stuff. So, a lot of it depends on the tenants here. If you see something you know, call security, say something,” said Valliere.
As for the future of the mall, Valliere wants more store fronts in The Citadel Mall to be full.
“Fill up the empty shops, the empty spaces. Fill them up, because the more people that's coming here, the more people come in the shop, that's more eyes on whoever tries to come here and do anything bad or negative,” said Valliere.
Valliere said he hopes more events and community activities could be held at the mall.
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