Garden State Plaza will be the site of the "Model Mall" project, the first to bring together experts from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, designated the state's technology center for homeland security systems, and state and local law enforcement organizations.
The project is expected to cost about $1 million, and will be funded by a combination of state and federal grants, officials said.
Instead of using a bank of video monitors as previous systems have done, the new cameras in the mall will transmit images to a computer that can pick out which ones might warrant intervention, such as an unattended package or an unscheduled delivery truck, according to Donald Sebastian, senior vice president for research and development at NJIT.
A similar system is being considered for use in New Jersey schools.
Acting Gov. Richard Codey praised the programs.
State lawmakers released a measure demanding that the federal government restore those funds to New Jersey's two largest cities.
Jersey City's allocation is set to decrease by 60 percent, to $6.7 million, while Newark's grant is being reduced 17 percent, to $12.4 million.
No terrorist plots have been uncovered that targeted shopping malls in New Jersey. However, last June a Somali immigrant was charged with conspiring with an admitted al-Qaida member to blow up an unidentified mall in central Ohio.
