"We know what's coming our way," Northshore Mall General Manager Mark Whiting said. "It's like a big wave that's out there building."

And when thousands of shoppers flood the mall's parking lot, their bargain-hunting eyes might pause on a new addition to the landscape. The mall recently installed a mobile security observation tower that Whiting says should discourage car break-ins and help with traffic control during the busiest time of year.

"We have a tremendous amount of (parking) capacity here. That's a good thing," Whiting said of the mall's 7,800-space lot. "But that creates the challenge of us being able to monitor and ensure that only positive things are happening within that parking environment."

The tower is the first of its kind to be used by Simon Malls in New England. Northshore Mall, Square One Mall in Saugus and the Burlington Mall bought it together, and the unit will be rotated between the three malls, as well as Simon's other properties in the region. Its first stop last summer was in Saugus.

The tower, which can be raised to 20 feet, will be staffed by mall security and, periodically, by Peabody police.

"It's a tremendous tool," police Chief Robert Champagne said. "It provides a good vantage point and serves as an effective deterrent to crime."

WASHINGTON – After weeks of pressure from pilot unions over controversial new airport screening measures, the Transportation Security Administration has agreed to exempt pilots from enhanced pat-downs and full body scans, pilot organizations said Friday.

Pilots flying for U.S. carriers and traveling in uniform will immediately start going through "expedited" screening after having two forms of identification checked against a secure database, said TSA administrator John Pistole in a statement.

Airline pilots complained when the agency would not exempt them from pat-downs seen as too intrusive and full body scans that union leaders said would put pilots at risk for increased exposure to radiation.

"Allowing these uniformed pilots, whose identity has been verified, to go through expedited screening at the checkpoint just makes smart security and an efficient use of our resources," said Pistole Friday. The changes do not affect policies for screening passengers.

Since Sept. 11, pilots organizations have been arguing that screening procedures for pilots, who are already vetted and provide for the safety of their passengers every time they take control of an airplane, should be focused on verifying their identity using biometric data like retinal scans or fingerprints.

Talks between the airlines, TSA and pilots unions have been stalled for years on how such a secure identity system would be funded. On Friday, TSA told the pilots unions that the administration would move forward with a long-term plan to use biometric screening for cockpit crew members, said Captian Sam Mayer, communications chairman for the Allied Pilots Association.

"We want TSA to concentrate on the threat, and clearly the pilots are not the threat, we are the targets," said Mayer, whose union represents 11,500 American Airlines pilots.

MILTON — Police visited a home in Charlotte, N.C., last night as they investigated whether the mangled body of a teenager found along a quiet road here this week is that of a high school student reported as missing there.

Milton police received an out-of-state call Thursday night regarding the missing boy, a high school sophomore and ROTC member. “It came out of the blue,’’ said Police Chief Richard G. Wells Jr.

The clue that may link the unidentified body discovered shirtless and shoeless Monday night and the missing 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale was a note found on the body, which appeared to be a school hall pass, bearing a first name beginning with a “D.’’ The rest of the first name was difficult to decipher, but the name appeared to be “Delvonte’’ or “Delconte’’; the last name appeared to be “Tisdale,’’ according to authorities.

Tisdale’s father reported the boy was last seen around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a report released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Milton Deputy Chief Charles Paris said police had yet to confirm that the victim was Tisdale and cautioned against leaping to conclusions, noting that someone else could have had Tisdale’s note in his pocket.

“It could be somebody different until we scientifically prove it,’’ he said.

Wells said a Milton officer and two state troopers went to Tisdale’s home in Charlotte last night. He said they were using forensic methods, including testing DNA samples and matching fingerprints to make a positive identification.

The medical examiner had not been able to determine the cause of death, Paris said.

“I’d imagine it has something to do with the condition of the body,’’ he said.