Due to last week's mall shooting [1] in Omaha, Nebraska, Security Management has gone into its archives to highlight an article from 2003, "How Should Malls Address Terrorism [2]."

The article by Donald W. Story gleans lessons from Israel for security practicioners and those interested in how better to protect American malls from high-profile violence.

Here's a quick glimpse into the article:

If even one American shopping center is targeted by a suicide bomber or other form of attack, all malls will be considered unsafe and will need to reassure the public. For that reason, it is imperative that every mall manager begin to think about how security should respond to an attack.

To help answer that question, I recently went to Israel to see some of the best protected shopping centers in the world. These businesses offer an effective model of how to protect malls in times of crisis. Of course, the threat for U.S. malls is currently remote. Therefore, the point is not to implement these measures now but rather to develop contingency plans so that security can be elevated quickly if the threat profile changes.