by KYW's Brad Segall
The Oxford Valley Mall (above) was the scene of a mock security threat drill on Wednesday, designed to make sure that area law enforcement officials are on the same page when it comes to protecting the region.
The drill started about a month ago when police learned that a fictitious organization with a grudge against corporate America was targeting an area mall.
Since then, they received information that it was the Oxford Valley Mall that was targeted, and now they are playing out how they will handle that threat.
Middletown Township police officer Jim Waltz coordinated the drill:
"Obviously we live in a different time since 2001. Things have changed, and it’s much better to be prepared before an event begins than afterwards.”
Civilian volunteers had their cars searched on the way into the mall parking lot, and bomb-sniffing dogs were patrolling the area. The drill didn’t interrupt mall business, and the shoppers were told about the exercise.
It should take about two weeks to evaluate the drill and whether any changes need to be made in the procedures that were used.
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