Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season but also an increase in crime at shopping malls.
In northern Virginia, the Fairfax County Police Department deploys its Christmas Anti-Theft Team to combat seasonal crimes, including larceny, fraud and retail theft.
Police said credit card fraud is going down, but shoplifting is on the rise.
Officers patrol major malls in uniform and plain clothes.
Items seized from real cases are used to train officers so they know what to look for this season. Needle-nose plyers, for example, can be used to cut sensors off items for sale.
