After multiple shooting events in a year’s time, the Mall of America has attempted to ramp up security to varying degrees of success.

In October, the mall announced it would test metal detectors. Because of the size of the property, the mall has already abandoned the technology. Still, mall leaders have said they’re continuing to explore other ways to keep the shopping center as safe as possible. In January, the mall announced increased security measures, seen and unseen, including implementing periodic and unannounced bag checks at entrances.

Until recently, the mall has declined to provide further details on these security advancements. But, last week, the mall held a media tour to highlight the latest developments in its security department.

To be sure, there is no such thing as 100% security, VP of mall security Will Bernhjelm told reporters during a Friday media tour through the massive shopping and entertainment center. With this in mind, Bernhjelm used Swiss cheese as an analogy for the mall’s approach to security.

“Every layer has a hole, right? But the more layers you have, the less chance there is that all those holes line up at once,” he said.

Some layers are highly visible, such as bomb-detecting dogs, uniformed patrol officers, and cameras. Others are less visible, like plainclothes officers, license plate recognition, and telecom analysts who watch for threats online. In January, the mall began implementing random bag checks.

Mall officials have been fine-tuning a comprehensive lockdown system, Bernhjelm said. The mall’s security team is also looking into the addition of firearm-detecting police dogs, though a timeline for this endeavor remains unclear.

The mall started testing new security measures after three incidents involving guns occurred at stores in the Mall of America. Most recently in December, right before Christmas, 19-year-old Johntae Hudson was shot and killed and a bystander was injured in the Nordstrom department store. In August, shots were fired in a Nike store after a dispute, sparking fears of a mass shooting. Later in August, a man with a rifle was apprehended after allegedly trying to rob a hat store.

Metal detectors were perhaps the mall’s most visible test, but the mall has confirmed the number of entrances made this measure unfeasible.

Built in 1992, Mall of America was never designed with metal detectors in mind, Bernhjelm said. With 27 public entrances, the staffing needed to operate metal detector stations would have been enormous.

Around 50,000 people were run through metal detectors provided by two different companies before mall security officials determined this method of security was not a fit for the mall.

“We’re not a venue like Target Center, U.S. Bank, Target Field even. We have a very open environment,” Bernhjelm said.

Around 32 million people come through the mall per year, according to the mall’s estimates. The size of the indoor space poses a massive security challenge, but Bernhjelm says the mall works to go above and beyond what is required. All of the mall’s officers have over 500 hours of training before they ever take a call on their own, he noted. The mall also recently implemented the use of body cameras for all officers.

Covid also posed new challenges for the space, he said. People are more brazen now when it comes to the crimes they try to commit in public spaces, according to Bernhjelm.

“I don’t know if it’s they think they can get away with it or that the penalties are worth it. But we’ve seen that certainly. And it’s not just Mall of America, right? It’s a nationwide thing like it’s happening everywhere,” he said.