We Are Problem Solvers
Incident Management & Communications
When an incident occurs at a shopping center, whether it's a security event, a public safety issue, a weather emergency, or another disruption, how a property prepares, responds, and communicates matters just as much as the incident itself. A well-handled incident can reinforce trust in a property. A poorly handled one, even a minor one, can do lasting damage to reputation, tenant confidence, and legal exposure. We help property owners and management teams build the plans and capabilities to handle both sides of that equation, before an incident happens, not after.
Our Approach
Incident Management Support Services
Our crisis management support services for shopping centers provide expert guidance to property owners and management teams on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies or disruptions. Too often, properties don't think through their response until they're already in the middle of an incident, which leads to confusion, inconsistent decisions, and avoidable mistakes at the exact moment clear thinking matters most.
We start by assessing the specific risks a property actually faces, drawing on the same diagnostic approach we use across all of our services. A shopping center's risk profile depends on its location, tenant mix, surrounding community, crime data, and history of past incidents, so a generic emergency plan rarely fits. From that assessment, we develop a tailored crisis response plan covering the full lifecycle of an incident: how the property prepares in advance, how it responds in the moment, and how it recovers and returns to normal operations afterward.
A plan is only as good as the people who execute it. That's why we also train property management and on-site staff on how to actually implement the plan, including decision-making authority during an incident, coordination with law enforcement and emergency responders, and clear internal protocols so staff know exactly what to do and who to contact without hesitation. Our goal is to make sure that when an incident happens, the response is calm, coordinated, and already rehearsed, not improvised.
Incident Communications
Owning the Narrative
Owning the narrative during a shopping center incident is vital to build trust, prevent misinformation, and reassure stakeholders. In the immediate aftermath of an incident, information moves fast, often faster than a property can control, through social media, local news, and word of mouth among tenants and shoppers. Properties that stay silent or respond slowly leave a vacuum that gets filled with speculation, rumor, and sometimes outright misinformation. Timely, accurate communication fosters confidence and professionalism, ensuring customers, tenants, and employees feel informed and supported rather than left to guess what happened or whether the property is safe.
Why Owning the Narrative Matters
A shopping center functions much like a small community. Tenants see each other daily, share information constantly, and talk among themselves, and that same network that builds a sense of community can just as easily spread rumors and unverified information after a significant incident. Once a rumor starts moving through tenant conversations, it travels quickly and is difficult to correct after the fact, regardless of whether it's accurate. Left unaddressed, this kind of unsubstantiated information can make customers and tenants feel unsafe even when the actual situation has been resolved, and it can create lingering reputational and operational problems long after the incident itself is over. That's why owning the narrative from the outset, rather than reacting to whatever version of events is already circulating, is one of the most important things a property can do in the hours following an incident.
Beyond the immediate moment, how an incident is communicated has lasting consequences. It protects the center's reputation, minimizes legal risks by ensuring statements are accurate and carefully considered, and manages public perception over the following days and weeks, not just the first few hours. Proactive engagement, reaching out to tenants and stakeholders before they have to ask, strengthens relationships and reinforces the center's role as a trusted community asset rather than a property that just happened to have something bad occur there.
Our experienced team helps with incident communication by crafting clear, accurate messages tailored to the specific incident and audience, managing media relations so the property speaks with one consistent voice, and coordinating multi-channel updates across social media, direct tenant communication, and local press so no group is left uninformed. We develop tailored communication plans in advance, so a property isn't drafting its first statement from scratch in the middle of a crisis. We help identify and address misinformation quickly before it takes hold, and we help engage stakeholders, including tenants, local officials, and law enforcement, in a way that builds trust and confidence and ensures a professional, effective response to any incident.
Case Study
Active Shooter Response, Cincinnati Area Shopping Center
A shopping center's property management team received notification of a possible active shooter situation on the property. Details were extremely limited at first: a heavy police response was underway, but management had no confirmation of what was actually happening, where in the property it was occurring, or whether the situation was ongoing.
What We Did
Our team mobilized immediately and made direct contact with police command staff on scene. Our team's background in local government and law enforcement gave us the credibility and working knowledge of police operations needed to communicate effectively with command staff in the middle of an active, high-stress situation. Because of that experience and our existing relationships with local law enforcement, we were able to assist police in gaining access to the property's surveillance camera system in real time during the active incident, giving responding officers additional visibility into the situation as it unfolded. We were also able to obtain information about the incident that was not yet available to the general public, through direct cooperation with the local police department.
The Result
An arrest was made quickly, and no other injuries occurred as a result of the incident. The cooperation between the property management team, our team, and local police helped ensure law enforcement had what they needed to resolve the situation quickly and safely.
Why Real-Time Information Matters for Property Management
In a fast-moving, high-stakes incident like this one, what the property management team knows, and how quickly they know it, has a direct impact on their ability to protect people and make sound decisions. Real-time awareness provides several concrete benefits:
Informed Decision-Making
Knowing what is actually happening, rather than relying on secondhand reports or rumor, allows management to make critical real-time decisions: whether to lock down specific areas, hold or evacuate tenants and shoppers, or redirect people away from danger, based on facts instead of guesswork.
Tenant and Shopper Safety
Accurate, timely information allows management to give tenants clear, appropriate instructions in the moment, rather than either alarming people unnecessarily or leaving them unaware of a genuine threat nearby.
Effective Law Enforcement Support
Providing police with quick access to surveillance systems and property knowledge helps responding officers act faster and more effectively, directly contributing to a quicker resolution and reduced risk to everyone on the property. Our team's own law enforcement and local government experience is what makes this kind of real-time cooperation possible, since it allows us to communicate with police command staff on their terms and move quickly without adding confusion to an already fast-moving situation.
Reduced Legal and Liability Exposure
Demonstrating that the property acted responsibly, with accurate information and appropriate cooperation with law enforcement, supports the property's position if the incident results in legal or insurance scrutiny afterward.
Controlling the Narrative Afterward
Having accurate, firsthand information as the incident unfolds allows the property to communicate confidently and truthfully once the situation is resolved, rather than trying to piece together what happened after the fact or reacting to inaccurate media and social media reports.
Confidence and Trust
Perhaps most importantly, when tenants, shoppers, and employees see that property management responded quickly, cooperated effectively with police, and communicated clearly, it reinforces trust in the property as a place that takes their safety seriously, both during the incident and long after it's over.
What We Do
Our Services
Risk Assessment
We evaluate the specific risks a property faces, drawing on crime data, tenant mix, location, and incident history, so crisis plans are built around real, property-specific scenarios rather than generic templates.
Crisis Response Plan Development
We develop tailored crisis response plans covering preparation, response, and recovery for security events, public safety issues, and other disruptions.
Staff and Management Training
We train management and staff on how to handle incidents effectively when they occur, including decision-making protocols and coordination with outside responders, so the plan translates into confident action in the moment.
Communication Plan Development
We build tailored incident communication plans in advance, so the property is ready to respond quickly and clearly when something happens, instead of drafting a response from scratch under pressure.
Owning the Narrative
Because a shopping center functions like a small community, we help properties get ahead of rumors and unverified information before they spread through tenants and shoppers and take on a life of their own.
Media Relations and Messaging
We craft clear, accurate messaging and manage media relations to help the property own the narrative, speak with one consistent voice, and prevent misinformation from taking hold.
Multi-Channel Stakeholder Updates
We coordinate timely, accurate updates across social media, tenant communications, and local press to keep customers, tenants, and employees informed and supported throughout an incident.
Post-Incident Recovery Support
We help properties manage the longer-term reputational and stakeholder relationship work that follows an incident, so the property emerges from a difficult moment with trust intact.
Ready to build a plan before you need one?
Let's talk about your property's specific risks and how we can help you prepare.
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