Scenes From a Mall : National Guard Deployed to Defend Valley’s Shopping Centers

The National Guard came to the San Fernando Valley and went straight to the malls.

Troops were posted Saturday at Topanga Plaza, Northridge Fashion Center, Panorama Mall and Sherman Oaks Fashion Square. They were also sent to Valley Plaza shopping center in North Hollywood.

“They are there just to guard,” said Sgt. Tom Todaro, a Los Angeles police spokesman, who said there were 153 members of the force assigned to the Valley. “They are there just to make sure nothing happens.”

Almost nothing had happened before they arrived. Unlike dozens of smaller businesses in the Valley, the shopping centers had not been looted or burned. The reported damage was limited to broken windows at Panorama Mall. The potential for trouble was the concern, Todaro said.

“When the malls close, all they have to guard them is unarmed security guards,” he said. “If a crowd gathers, like it did at Panorama mall, they have to hold on for dear life.”

Some community leaders were upset that shopping Meccas got the National Guard protection.

“We are not important people,” said the Rev. Curry McKinney, who was attending a community meeting in the Pacoima area on Saturday. He is the head of the San Fernando Valley Ministers Alliance, a group of African-American clergy.

“The only times we are considered important are when we are shopping in one of those malls,” he said. “We sometimes have trouble getting the police to our businesses, let alone the National Guard.”

Business owners at the community meeting said they would have liked some of the Guard protection. “On Foothill, we had nothing,” said Charlotte Bedard, who owns a small shop that sells communication equipment in Pacoima.

Officials and merchants at Topanga Plaza seemed delighted with the Guard presence.

“I had no idea they were coming until the Los Angeles Police Department called and told me and asked our cooperation,” said Mario Mireles, manager of the mall. “We have not had any reports of trouble here, but it was certainly fine with me.”

Mireles said he received only one call concerning the troops: “It was a merchant who wanted to know if there had been a problem. He might have been concerned customers would worry about what was going on here.

“But I think they are doing a great job of walking the fine line between alarming shoppers and still providing security.”

As shoppers crowded into the mall in seemingly normal numbers for a Saturday, about a dozen of the troops oversaw the scene from sidewalks or the roof. None were inside.

“It’s not bad duty,” said a guardsman outside a Nordstrom store. “It doesn’t matter to me. I am just following my orders.”

Shopper Lyn Harris, who lives near the mall in Canoga Park and shops there regularly, said she did not mind having troops there, even though they reminded her of the unrest in other parts of the city.

“I have mixed emotions,” she said. “I’m black, so I am horrified about what is happening in the community. But I live in a white neighborhood, and I enjoy feeling safe and secure where I shop.”

“I think our customers want to feel protected, and so do I,” said Sonia Grover, manager of the Frederick’s of Hollywood shop in Topanga Plaza. “It’s like landing in a foreign country with a lot of soldiers in the airport. You just feel better about it.”

Grover added: “We are hoping this is all cleared up by Mother’s Day. That is a lovely time for us.”