Security Increased at Shopping Malls for Black Friday

Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Massachusetts is taking extra precautions

With the Black Friday shopping frenzy upon us, security will be tight at shopping malls across the country and it will be no different at the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Wrentham, Massachusetts.

With an estimated 30,000 people expected to descend upon the shopping center on Friday, Wrentham Police say they want be prepared for anything that could happen.

In addition to uniformed officers and emergency responders, there will be police with long guns, bomb sniffing dogs, undercover officers, police on bicycles, motorcycles, and ATVs. There will also be a portable observation tower and a mobile command post to monitor shoppers on closed circuit TV.

necn spoke with Wrentham Police Chief James Anderson over the phone about how the outlet could be a terrorist soft target.

"You'll have thousands of people in one area and if someone wanted to make news that would be a place to do it," Anderson said.

Wrentham is unique because it is an international destination with buses leaving Logan Airport to bring tourists in.

Brendan Devlin, an outlet employee told necn they train on a regular basis for emergencies, and what to do if the entrance or exit is shut down.

"It makes you feel more secure there's no question about that," Devlin said. "There's only one entrance in one entrance out, one back road out and it's secured so everybody has to come through the main entrance and that's a lot of cars."

The Wrentham Village Premium Outlets released a statement Tuesday night saying safety is their "top priority" and that they are working with law enforcement and first responders to make Black Friday safe.

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