CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Kenwood Towne Centre is a popular holiday shopping destination for shoppers, but also those looking to prey upon them.

Kenwood Towne Centre is arguably the last thriving traditional mall in the greater Cincinnati area.

Despite massive spikes in online shopping over the last decade, it has managed to stay relevant and even thrive year-round.

In many ways, Kenwood is a retail anomaly.

As it continues to be a popular destination, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office reports show it is not just drawing the attention of shoppers looking to spend.

“As we’ve looked through that data, we’ve also noticed there was an increase in activity at the mall, And with that increased activity, it’s only a natural progression to have more crime start to happen,” explained Lt. Paul Naber with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Naber is the commander of the Sycamore Township District Office, which is responsible for patrolling Kenwood Towne Centre.

“The more people we have going to the mall, the more kind of crimes we’re gonna have,” explained Lt. Naber. “So, we’ll see a lot more retail thefts, your shopliftings, and quality of life type crimes, people having an argument.”

FOX19 NOW filed a public records request for incident reports dating back to 2021.

The request was for 50 different crime codes ranging from passing bad checks to murder at the three addresses associated with the mall, including the Kenwood Collection and the mall’s anchor stores.

What the records show is a steady increase in reported incidents over the past several years.

• 2021 – 50 reported incidents
• 2022 – 132 reported incidents
• 2023 – 254 reported incidents

2024 is on track to exceed all of those numbers.

Consistently, according to the records, the most reported crime is theft with 584 incidents since 2021.

The biggest spikes occur from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, the records show.

Macy’s and Dillard’s are the most mentioned stores on the records.

“They are the biggest footprint for Kenwood Towne Centre,” says Lt. Naber. “So, obviously, with that larger size, they have more product to steal. They have more opportunities to steal just because of the size and if they don’t have internal mechanisms to address that for their own property, then there’s really nothing we can do to help them. It’s really up to the stores.”

Lt. Naber says the sheriff’s office and mall security do work together.

He says many of the stores hire their own off-duty officers. Starting on Nov. 1, the sheriff’s office also added more deputies to mall detail on the weekends.

In addition, Lt. Naber says they are using technology to their advantage.

“Our intelligence unit is telling us where to concentrate our efforts and doing studies and looking at the data to know exactly where to look and look for problems and how to fix those problems before they occur,” Lt. Nabers described.

It is a proactive approach that law enforcement hopes will make an impact.

Nationally, shopping centers are seeing similar spikes, especially in shoplifting.

You might have seen videos showing organized retail theft in action.

The Louis Vuitton store inside Kenwood was hit in 2022 with more than $100,000 worth of bags stolen in seconds.

But, is there more to it than just an influx of people or crimes of opportunity?

“That’s really the million-dollar question,” says University of Cincinnati’s Institute of Crime Science Director Dr. Cory Haberman. “I think many retailers and local governments are trying to figure that out. There are a number of theories. One of which was the financial strain and hardship which people experienced coming out of COVID – that there were more people motivated to commit these property crimes.”

Dr. Haberman studies why and where crime happens.

It is paramount that a solution is found before brick-and-mortar stores disappear altogether, according to Dr. Haberman.

“People don’t want to come to malls if they feel like they may be in danger, and so crime is an issue,” Dr. Haberman says.

Despite records showing an increase in criminal activity at Kenwood, the parking lot has been filled and stores are crowded this holiday season.

FOX19 NOW did reach out to Kenwood.

A mall spokesperson says they also track crime data.

The Kenwood spokesperson said their data shows incidents at the mall are down. “However, it is unclear what metrics the mall uses and what type of crimes they track.”

Kenwood Towne Centre does a have robust security team, including a K-9, and they work closely with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, according to the spokesperson.

Anchor stores like Dillard’s, Macy’s and Nordstrom have their own security, but the mall is ready to assist whenever needed.

[Holiday shopping safety tips]

Kenwood Towne Centre is closed on Thanksgiving.

They open at 8 a.m. on Black Friday and close at 9 p.m.

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