As a 35+ year resident of the Crown center area I have seen many changes to the Crown Center
Shops. May retailers and restaurants have come and gone but throughout these transitions the
security has always been professional and adequate until recently.
There was a shooting in January close to the shops between two rival gangs close to a store that
sells and resells high end tennis shoes.
A few weeks ago on a beautiful Friday night I and my girlfriend and her dog decided to take a
walk from San Francisco Tower to the fountains. As we exited our building and headed north on
Grand we saw an obviously disturbed woman in a one piece swimsuit sitting on a backpack with
her back against the wall. She looked a bit shady so we decided to cross the street as to not
engage her but that tactic did not work and the woman rose and started to follow my girlfriend
and her dog as I cautiously followed. Once I knew the woman was obviously going to attack I
got in the middle and immediately stopped any assault that could have happened and the
woman backed away and went back across the street.
We walked around the fountains a few times and then I decided to look for a Crown center
Security officer to tell them the situation so they could remove the woman before she attacked
anyone else that night. I walked the 3 floors of the shops along with the outside of the hotel
area and no security officers were to be found. We left and took the long route home as to not
encounter the woman again. I went down to the shops on Saturday to find a security guard to
tell my story and again no security guards were found. I called the Crown center Security office
to ask about the security detail from Friday but was told that info is confidential. I later found
from talking to merchants in the CC shopping area that of Friday night the security personal has
been reduced from 10 to 2 officers. These merchants also gave me lots of info about recent
thefts and disturbances in Crown Center due to lack of Security personal.
How does Crown Center expect to attract and retain quality customers and retailers if there is
no security in the area? They have a duty to the local residents, customers and tourists to have
adequate security and the CURRENTLY DON’T HAVE IT AND IT’S DANGEROUS.
Can you imagine what the area will look like when they bring people from all over the world for
a soccer tournament with no security? Chaos and Crown Center will be responsible.
