T.H.R.E.A.T. At The Malls

T.H.R.E.A.T. At The Malls Conducted at intervals, T.H.R.E.A.T. is a comprehensive deployment of state, county and local resources designed to educate the public about dealing with potential terrorist activity.

Headed by Paramus Police Lieutenant Ken Ehrenberg and NJ State Police Trooper Mel Sanders they assembled about 60 law enforcement personnel from the state, county and local area.
Addressed by Paramus Police Chief Richard Cary and Captain Jim Sheehan, they were welcomed and the mission explained.

T.H.R.E.A.T. At The Malls Sanders and Ehrenberg explained the modus operandi, the malls to be covered and the hours and areas of patrol, The men were given pamphlets to distribute to the shopping public designed to alert them to possible areas of threat, what to do in case they spotted some suspicious activity or behavior.

Call 1 866 4 SAFE-NJ (1 866 472 3365) to assist by being the eyes and ears for Homeland Security. T.H.R.E.A.T stands for: Target Hardening Response and Emergency Activation Teams.

Over at the Paramus Park Mall, Auntie Anne's Pretzels was kind enough to donate free pretzels to the law enforcement people, their way of saying thank you for offering that extra protection.

While there, Mall Manager Minnie Adams came down to greet the officials and make them welcome. Her Director of Security, Philip Henry, also joined in extending that welcome. They allowed me to pose a picture of D.A.R.E. Paramus Police Officer Detective Jim Teehan with Santa Claus which he will be able to include in his school presentations.

From there, we went over to the Westfield Garden State Plaza Shopping Center where we teamed up with the group that covered the Bergen Towne Center. That Paramus based mall is under construction and remodeling, but is open for business.

At the Plaza, the groups walked through the shopping center distributing their pamphlets. Interestingly, while they were doing their assigned job, shoppers approached these uniformed police officers to ask directions for store where they wanted to shop. The Paramus Police Department people were able to assist them unerringly even though they were not part of the Westfield Garden State Plaza Information staff.

We can give thanks to the people in law enforcement for caring about our safety.