St. Peters police officials expect a spike in thefts this holiday shopping season, and the department has assigned officers to provide extra security in and around Mid Rivers Mall. "During the holiday season, starting with Black Friday and through Christmas, we have extra security at the mall just to keep everyone safe," St. Peters patrol officer Sarah Brueggeman said Friday morning while standing in the second-level parking lot near JCPenney at the mall.

This really isn't appropriate. On the one hand, if St. Peters want to get into the mall security business, there are far cheaper ways to do it, and on the other hand, there are likely real crimes requiring a other-than-mall-security skill-set out there that need to be resolved ...