Two recent shootings at the Augusta Mall have caused people to go on social media and share their opinion that they no longer feel safe going to the mall.
Some have even called for metal detectors to be placed at all of the entrances to property.
However, records from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office show that the mall may be one of the safest places in Augusta. In fact, the statistical data combined with other factors, such as geography and demographics, show that the mall is likely safer than most other public spaces across the city.
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Between May 10, 2023 and May 10, 2024, 1,369 calls, or roughly 3.7 calls per day, were made to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center from the mall grounds, according to those records.
This number may seem outrageously high; however, these figures represent the total number of calls made from the mall’s address of 3450 Wrightsboro Road to the dispatch unit, not only the 911 calls.
The majority of those calls are off-duty police working specials, or on-duty officers verifying their location. Retired former Richmond County Chief Deputy Pat Clayton confirmed that these calls show that mall parking lots are routinely patrolled and that when emergencies do occur, a patrol unit is likely not very far away.
“You also have to keep in mind that the mall has its own security force that routinely checks in with law enforcement and they have security cameras everywhere, both inside and out,” Clayton said.
The data supports Clayton’s assertion, in that the second most logged non-emergency calls are that of warnings of ‘suspicious individual(s). This shows that even if an officer is not dispatched to the property, mall security officials give the police a heads up if they see anyone who might be apt to look for trouble.
“Of course, when a shooting occurs, it makes the headlines because it’s an aberration. But the real problem is young people with nothing more to do than hangout in the food courts, I think the mall security manages that pretty well without being overbearing. They maintain the atmosphere and inform us if anything raises their suspicions,” Clayton said.
The geography of the mall also works to its safety benefit. Unlike Charleston’s Northwoods Mall, Augusta Mall is not surrounded by low-income or public housing, so people cannot simply commit a crime and then disappear into the shadows; Augusta Mall abuts an expressway on one side and a middle class bedroom community on the other.
Augusta Mall also has only two main entrances and two auxiliary ingress/egress points. At peak times, those entrance/exit points become bottlenecked, making it difficult for someone to flee a crime scene in an automobile.
Records show that in the last calendar year, 112 thefts were reported, and those thefts could range from simple shoplifting to someone stealing from an unsecured vehicle. In that same span, only three assaults were documented and three actual robberies reported.
There were three instances where officers and EMTs were called due to an expectant mother suddenly going into labor and five instances where runaway teenagers were discovered.
Clayton says that people should treat a trip to the mall like any other public outing and simply be aware of the immediate surroundings. Should one find themselves needing to traverse the parking lot alone at night and laden with shopping bags, ask security personnel to assist in getting to the car.
Mall management could not be reached for comment.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
