Attention Mall Shoppers: Are You Engaging in Suspicious Activity?

HOMELAND SECURITY -- September 7, 2011 at 5:24 PM EDT

Attention Mall Shoppers: Are You Engaging in Suspicious Activity?

All week on the NewsHour, we're exploring different stories about the world a decade after the 9/11 attacks.

On Wednesday's broadcast, you'll see a report from NPR's Daniel Zwerdling and the Center for Investigative Reporting about efforts to spot terrorist activity at the Mall of America near Minneapolis.

CIR sums up the story this way:

Mall of America officials say their security unit stops and questions up to 1,200 people each year as part of a counterterrorism initiative that acts as the private eyes and ears of law enforcement authorities but has often ensnared innocent people, according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting and NPR.

There are data and graphics to explore as part of the reporting that went into this project, including a database of suspicious activity reports and this animation that details the Homeland Security changes after 9/11:

Reporting from Zwerdling and CIR will continue on Thursday's Morning Edition on NPR.

Photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user .nate.

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