GUILDERLAND — To reduce violence and arrests at Crossgates Mall, its management has decided to ban teenagers from the mall on Friday and Saturday nights, unless they are accompanied by their parents.

Crossgates will also install more surveillance cameras and increase its number of security officers, Guilderland Police Chief James Murley told The Enterprise.
"Hopefully, a combination of these safety enhancements will reduce the police presence in the mall," he said.

The escort policy was announced last Thursday and will take effect on July 15. Police will then evaluate the level of crime at the mall, Murley said, and he hopes that fewer officers will be needed to patrol the mall.

The Enterprise wrote about plans for the escort policy last month, as Murley, Albany County District Attorney David Soares, and mall representatives were discussing how to control crime at the mall.

Their meetings came after two gang-related riots occurred in March at Crossgates Mall. Then, police arrested at least eight people and, with a Taser gun, stunned two of them.

On May 7, a 25-year-old man was stabbed at the mall in what police said was another gang-related brawl.
These incidents, Murley said, and "increased violence on a weekly basis" at the mall, caused the escort policy.
Last month, Ron "Cook" Barrett, senior gang-prevention specialist for the Capital Region Gang Prevention Center, told The Enterprise about gang members at the mall.

They gather at Crossgates because it’s a common place where thousands of teenagers and young adults go, he said.
"They love the excitement," Barrett said. "They like to cause a scene and it’s talked about back at school. It boosts their reputations."

Carousel Center in Syracuse — which is owned by the same company as Crossgates, Pyramid Cos. — enacted an escort policy in 2003, to answer complaints of disruptive teenagers roaming the mall.

The policy has been successful, so Pyramid considered it for Crossgates Mall, Michael Bovalino, chief executive officer of Pyramid, told The Enterprise last month.
"We track the incidents at Crossgates very closely," Bovalino said. "But, this [gangs] is an Albany issue, not a Crossgates issue."

Bovalino declined to comment on whether gangs at Carousel Center prompted the policy there, but he did say there is less crime at Carousel since 2003. And, he said, Carousel has had more visitors and increased sales on the weekends since it enacted its escort policy.

With the Crossgates policy, on Fridays and Saturdays after 4 p.m., shoppers under the age of 18 need an escort who is a parent or guardian, Bovalino said.

Extra security guards check shoppers’ identification cards at the entrances to the mall, stopping anyone under age and without an escort, he said.

The Crossgates policy does not apply to the mall’s cinema area, to teen employees of the mall, or to the mall’s anchor stores with separate entrances.

Teens under 18 can enter those stores, do their shopping, and leave. Or they can go to the theater, see a movie, and leave. What they can’t do is congregate in central areas like the food court without being escorted by their parents.

Those who try to enter the mall without valid identification will be asked to leave or escorted to an area in the mall where they can wait for a ride.
"The department applauds and supports these safety efforts," Murley said.

The policy is also in place at the Walden Galleria mall, another Pyramid mall near Buffalo, and has been successful there, Bovalino said.

The escort policy should not only decrease the number of disorderly conduct arrests, but also shoplifting arrests, Murley said. Each week, The Enterprise prints in its "Blotters" section at least a dozen shoplifting arrests; all arrests are printed, except for minors, or those arrested who are under 16.

Murley concluded that meetings between the police department and mall management will continue.
"We’re never done," he said. "We always meet periodically to discuss any spikes in particular crimes."