I was watching this TV report and laughing my ass off because I’ve been to 5 different malls in the past week, and none of them had taken extraordinary security measures given the recent bombings. In fact, I noticed that some malls are not taking the current situation Lebanon is going through seriously and are not even making the slightest effort in terms of security and prevention.
Here are the malls I’ve been to and what I’ve noticed:
ABC Dbayyeh & Achrafieh:
– They are still using defective bomb detectors at ABC.
– There’s an additional security inspection at ABC Dbayyeh for both men and women which is good.
– There are metal detectors at the ABC Achrafieh main Entrance (not sure about the other entrances) but you can walk or drive in from the parking and not get checked.
– You are not allowed to park anymore in front of ABC Achrafieh (on the way down from Sassine) which is also good.
Le Mall Dbayyeh
– They are still using defective bomb detectors.
– They use bomb-detection mirrors but the last time the mirror was broken!
– I didn’t notice any extra measures taken at both entrance doors but I can’t confirm.
City Mall
– They have some special bomb detector that I haven’t seen in any other mall and they check the trunk of the car.
– I can’t confirm whether they took extra safety measures at the entrance door which is good
Beirut Souks
This place is a security nightmare for the management and the authorities given that it is wide open and has numerous entrances, however:
– They are the only ones equipped with bomb-sniffing dogs.
– Unfortunately though, they are using defective bomb detectors but they have security members all over the souks.
Beirut City Centre:
– They are still using defective bomb detectors.
– I didn’t notice any additional security measures taken at the entrance door.
To sum things up, the security measures taken at malls in Lebanon are not enough to prevent (God Forbid) an explosion or an armed attack or whatsoever, and I can’t freaking believe that defective bomb detectors are still being used. I understand that no one’s doing well economically in Beirut these days but things would get much worse for all of us and specially malls if an unfortunate incident takes place there.
Here are few recommendations that I urge all malls mentioned above and others concerned to consider for boosting security and preventing potential criminal and terrorist acts:
– Throw these defective bomb detectors in the nearest garbage bin.
– Get Bomb-sniffing dogs and put them at every entrance.
– Get high quality and effective bomb scanners.
– Set up metal detectors at every entrance and make sure there’s an armed soldier or ISF officer nearby (To prevent armed attacks mainly).
– Schedule patrols around the parking lot for a security guard and a bomb sniffing dog every half hour.
– Set up a metal entrance gate far from the initial one. This would help limit the damage in case of a suicide bomber.
– Set up No Parking signs around the mall.
One more thing I’d like to see implemented, even though it’s a bit ambitious, is to have car plate numbers scanned to verify if the car is stolen or not. Technically speaking, it’s very easy and cheap to implement but it requires a lot of paper work and a collaboration between the ISF and third parties. The idea is that information related to black-listed or suspicious cars gets constantly updated and shared through an application or a platform that mall security personnel have access to. Even valet parking companies could help if they are able to detect suspicious cars and report them but I am not sure how trust-worthy these companies are.
Note: If you have further (verified) information regarding the security measures taken, please do share them and I will gladly update the post.