After Social Media Threats, Police Beef Up Security at North Riverside Park Mall

The North Riverside Police Department said it received several social media threats

After threats of “unruly groups” planning to cause a disturbance at the North Riverside Park Mall Wednesday, police increased their security presence at the shopping center.

The North Riverside Police Department said it received several social media threats “containing information that a large number of unruly groups plan to come to the North Riverside Park Mall” around 1:30 p.m.

The department said in preparation for the potential event, it partnered up with the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System Mobile Field Force and the Cook County Department of Homeland Security Emergency Management.

“The North Riverside Park Mall will have security agents on hand and will be strictly enforcing the Youth Escort Program starting at 11 a.m.,” Chief Deborah Garcia said in a statement.

The alleged threats come just days after the mall was closed "for safety reasons" due to a "large amount of unsupervised juveniles," police said. 

Two arrests were made Saturday and no injuries were reported, according to police.

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