Ison
After two people were robbed at gunpoint outside the Greenwood mall, officials are planning to make security upgrades.
Simon Property Group, which owns the Greenwood Park Mall, plans to buy and install four Flock Safety Automated License Plate Reading cameras, which will be placed near the mall’s four main entrances. At the same time, the Greenwood Police Department plans to increase police radio coverage inside the mall by installing a bi-directional amplifier system and increasing patrols in the area, said Jim Ison, Greenwood police chief.
“(We’re) working together to ensure the mall is as safe as possible for our visitors,” Ison said. “We want people to feel safe.”
The increased security measures are the result of two robberies that occurred in early January. Two separate women reported being approached by suspects with guns.
The first incident occurred Jan. 3, when a woman said she was leaving the mall when a silver SUV approached her and a Black teen got out of the car and grabbed her purse. The victim and teen struggled before he drew a handgun and hit her with the gun. He then fled the scene in the SUV, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
The second incident occurred about two weeks later, on Jan. 17, when another woman reported being approached by a silver SUV and robbed in the mall parking lot. During this incident, the woman was about to get in her car when she was robbed at gunpoint by three Black juveniles who also fled the scene, according to a separate Greenwood Police Department report.
After the second robbery, a witness told police they saw the SUV cross County Line Road and enter the Lowe’s parking lot. Detectives were able to identify the SUV as a silver GMC Envoy, Ison said.
Officers searched the city’s Flock license plate reader system for any silver GMC Envoys in the area around the time of the second robbery. While searching, officers located a silver GMC Envoy that had been in the area several times in several days. The SUV had been reported stolen from Indianapolis after a home invasion, he said.
Officers eventually located the car at an apartment complex on Indianapolis’ far south side. Detectives waited and observed the car for several hours, and saw two juveniles get in the car. Police followed them. Officers attempted to pull over the car, but the suspects fled, eventually stopping in a neighborhood off Stop 11 Road in Indianapolis. Both teens were taken into custody, Ison said.
During the arrest, officers found a stolen gun that was likely used in the robberies. They also found the debit card of one of the victims, which had been used at a gas station shortly after the second robbery, he said.
The four Flock license plate readers will capture every license plate that passes through the mall, and send the information to the National Crime Information Center. If the camera receives a hit on a car involved with criminal activity, the system will notify officers, Ison said.
The readers can be used to enter specific information to alert officers or mall security. For example, if someone who is trespassed from the mall enters the property in their car, and their car’s information is in the system, officers will receive an alert notifying them that the trespassed person is there, he said.
If police need to search for a certain type of vehicle during a certain time frame, the software can help with that, too, Ison said.
The readers also send real-time alerts if a vehicle associated with a missing person in an AMBER or Silver Alert is detected, according to Flock Safety.
Greenwood police also plans to increase radio coverage inside the mall by installing a bi-directional amplifier system at the mall. A large antenna will be installed outside the mall, with smaller antennas inside the mall, he said.
The need for the system results from years of issues with radio traffic inside the mall due to dead spots. Installing the system will create a bypass that lets officers communicate freely, Ison said.
“It will eliminate the interruption in communications,” he said.
Simon will pay for the new license plate readers, while the city will pay for most of the bi-directional amplifier, which will cost about $70,000, though Simon has expressed interest in helping pay for the system. The city will use American Rescue Plan Act funds, Ison said.
Though Simon is purchasing the readers, the company plans to share some of the data with Greenwood police. Private entities are allowed to purchase the system and share the data with law enforcement. A Greenwood neighborhood and local hotel have also purchased the system and shared data with police, he said.
“They share the data with us, so if a stolen vehicle passes by, it will notify us just as our cameras would,” Ison said.
Though there were three people in the SUV during the second robbery, police believe the third person did not participate in it. They also have not been able to identify that person, he said.
The two juveniles have been charged in Johnson County, but due to the pursuit and arrests taking place in Indianapolis, they are being held at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.
Simon Properties did not respond to requests for comment.
