Police: No Crowd Issues For iPhone 5 Release

There were no issues with crowd control early Friday morning as the Mall at Rockingham Park welcomed the release of the iPhone 5 at the Apple Store.

Salem Deputy Police Chief Shawn Patten said the release and crowd control went "very smooth" Friday.

The same could not be said for the last time a major Apple product was released at the Salem mall.

after an estimated crowd of 1,000 people awaiting the release of the latest iPad became unruly and caused a crushing issue at the mall entrance doors.

At that time, Patten said his department would work with the mall and Apple to make sure nothing like that would happen again.

On Friday, Patten said police met with mall officials to formulate a plan with more detail officers and as a result there were no issues this time.

"Everyone has done a great job," he said, noting the mall and Apple pay for the police detail.

Two officers were assigned to the location overnight as the crowd began to form and Patten said that grew to as many as eight officers as the crowd got bigger.

It appears the crowd for the iPhone release wasn't as big as the iPad release. Approximately 100 people were seen waiting in line outside the mall entrance at 7 a.m. Friday, awaiting entry for the purchase of the new phone.

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