As you may or may not have heard, the city of Philadelphia has a recurring problem with "flash mobs". You've probably heard of flash mobs before, the mass gatherings of people in a public location, usually orchestrated through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. For the most part, flash mobs are relatively peaceful, light hearted affairs that feature singing and dancing, like this one in London:
However, the term "flash mob" has become a dirty word in the City of Brotherly Love. That is because tech savvy (but dim witted) teens have managed to locally re-brand the gatherings. Unlike the London flash mob shown above, most flash mobs in Philadelphia usually involve attacking bystanders, trashing stores, and damaging property. In essence, a quasi riot, like this:
That news report, which was from March of last year, aired at a time when the flash mob problem was just becoming a city wide concern. Philadelphia's Mayor, Michael Nutter, gives off a lackadaisical, "wait and see" demeanor in that particular report. Since then, he has acknowledged that flash mobs are in fact a major concern that should be addressed swiftly and aggressively. Just last week, he directed some strong words towards those who have participated in these mob attacks, saying that "you've damaged yourself, you've damaged another person, you've damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you've damaged your own race". The race bit refers to the fact that the vast majority of the attackers have been black youths. Mayor Nutter also outlined his plan to stifle these attacks in a press conference last Monday.
That plan, unfortunately, does not back up the tough talk the mayor has been doling out to miffed city residents. The focal point of Nutter's plan involves the enforcement of a new and strict curfew policy on Friday and Saturday nights. For the rest of the summer, curfew for those under the age of 18 is now 9pm in the areas of Center City and University City. The youth curfew for the rest of the city remains at the usual 10pm. If a minor is caught outside during curfew hours, both the minor and his or her parents will receive a punishment. The first offense will usually either be a warning or a small fine. Subsequent offenses could involve jail time for the minor and child neglect charges against the parents, plus larger fines.
The second part of Mayor Nutter's plan involves leaving city recreation centers open until 10pm, as well as actively promoting fun and non-violent activities for teenagers on weekend nights.
Quite frankly, this plan is a joke on both fronts. Mayor Nutter's plan does not tackle the flash mob issue head on. Rather, it dances around it in a manner that looks like progress on the surface, but in reality it does virtually nothing. It even emboldens the would-be attackers in a couple of ways. First off, enforcing a new, localized curfew does not address the problem at hand. Today the city has been bragging about the 60+ teenagers they plucked off the street this weekend, as if that somehow stopped a riot from occurring. That's misplaced logic. The only thing those kids did was walk down the street. They weren't beating up a person. They weren't rampaging through a store. They were WALKING DOWN THE DAMN STREET.
Seriously, Mayor Nutter, do you really believe that you can quash flash mobs by arresting anything that moves in Center City? If I may agree with a portion of the Tea Party philosophy for a moment (something that makes me cringe), creating a "nanny city" is very unfavorable to a lot of people. The city of Philadelphia, or any American city for that matter, shouldn't be telling people of any age when they can or cannot go outside. That decision should be made by the individual or by parents. The city's responsibility should lie in holding parents and kids accountable if they happen to make poor decisions when in public. In my opinion, curfews are outdated and ineffective policies that broadly restrict everybody's freedom in the name of "keeping our streets safe". Real life is not like Minority Report. You can't punish criminals before they commit a crime. And that is basically what Mayor Nutter is attempting to do right now.
Also, it should be noted that flash mobs can occur outside of the boundaries of Center City. Yes, the majority of of them have happened in the downtown area, but that doesn't mean that the mobs will move outside of that particular area in order to avoid the prying eyes of Mayor Nutter's PreCrime team (another Minority Report reference). As it stands right now, Nutter is playing what amounts to a really bad game of whack-a-mole. He's got the hammer pressed down on Center City, but the ability for other mobs, or "moles" to spring up in other sections of the city is there. So while the curfew is aggressively enforced by a heavy police presence in one area, the rest of the city becomes that much more vulnerable to thuggery and mob rule.
The second part of Mayor Nutter's plan is even more misguided than the first part. Keeping rec centers open later does NOTHING to prevent flash mobs. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It is not a lack of "fun activities" that has driven members of the city's youth use to resort to muggings and beatings for entertainment. It is because of these four things:
1. A lack of respect
2. A lack of proper parenting
3. A lack of a proper conscience
4. A lack of being held accountable by law enforcement
Those are the four issues that have created this mob epidemic the most. The last one in particular has had a profound effect on the former three. Without real jail time and real fines, the message will never get across that senseless violence will not be tolerated by the city and by the community. These kids aren't acting the way they do because the basketball courts aren't open at nighttime (and if they were, that would be an even greater problem). They're acting the way they do because they want to act that way. The empowerment and control they gain through the "mob mentality", coupled with the exploitation of lightning-fast communication capabilities in social media, is something that these kids see as favorable. For that small window of time in which "the mob" is active, they are in charge. They run the block. And that to them is really funny and really entertaining.
Mayor Nutter shouldn't be playing the role of Citywide Dad for the youth of Philadelphia. He should send a message to dads that will get them to be dads. That can be done through heavy fines and charges of child neglect. To the mayor's credit, he has done the latter. But not the former. $500 dollars is too small. $5,000 would be more appropriate.
So, how would I deal with this flash mob problem? Well, I would first find a way to better mobilize the Philadelphia Police Department so that they can quickly respond to mob activity before it gets out of control. Right now, the kids are better organized than the cops. They can gather quickly in one area by sending out a mass text or tweet, and they can disperse just as quickly. The police, meanwhile, take too long to even get to the scene of mob activity, and when they do show up they are heavily undermanned. I would create some sort of system that detects mob gatherings in progress. That can be done without enacting Orwellian measures, like setting up a "Tweet Monitoring Department" or some shit like that. Instead, the police should make 911 calls involving "a group of rowdy kids" or "a disruptive gathering" top priorities, right up there with murder, robbery, and the like. There should also be a heavier police presence in flash mob hot spots (something that is currently being done, but only to enforce the inane curfew). In the event that a flash mob gets completely out of hand, the riot police should be called in without any hesitation.
No, that's not excessive force, that's appropriate force. Fight fire with fire.
Secondly, I would increase the mandatory minimum sentence for those caught vandalizing or assaulting in a flash mob. The time served should be years, not months.
Thirdly, I would created a tiered fine scale for the parents or guardians of these juvenile delinquents. First offense, the parent/guardian gets a $500 dollar fine. Second offense, $1500 fine. Third offense, $5000 fine. Any further offenses, and the parent/guardian gets jail time as well.
Fourthly, I would require any first time flash mob offender to complete 50-100 hours of community service, preferably by correcting the wrongs that they partook in. They would clean storefronts, visit abuse victims in the hospital, etc. Use the opportunity to teach them some respect, without taking on the direct parenting role that Mayor Nutter seems so set on doing.
Flash mobs are a serious problem. Therefore, serious solutions are needed to correct the problem. This is not something that can be solved through broad restrictions and feel good photo ops at bowling alleys. In order to end flash mobs, we need to go to the roots of the problem. Until then, no real progress towards "making our streets" safer will occur.
However, the term "flash mob" has become a dirty word in the City of Brotherly Love. That is because tech savvy (but dim witted) teens have managed to locally re-brand the gatherings. Unlike the London flash mob shown above, most flash mobs in Philadelphia usually involve attacking bystanders, trashing stores, and damaging property. In essence, a quasi riot, like this:
That news report, which was from March of last year, aired at a time when the flash mob problem was just becoming a city wide concern. Philadelphia's Mayor, Michael Nutter, gives off a lackadaisical, "wait and see" demeanor in that particular report. Since then, he has acknowledged that flash mobs are in fact a major concern that should be addressed swiftly and aggressively. Just last week, he directed some strong words towards those who have participated in these mob attacks, saying that "you've damaged yourself, you've damaged another person, you've damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you've damaged your own race". The race bit refers to the fact that the vast majority of the attackers have been black youths. Mayor Nutter also outlined his plan to stifle these attacks in a press conference last Monday.
That plan, unfortunately, does not back up the tough talk the mayor has been doling out to miffed city residents. The focal point of Nutter's plan involves the enforcement of a new and strict curfew policy on Friday and Saturday nights. For the rest of the summer, curfew for those under the age of 18 is now 9pm in the areas of Center City and University City. The youth curfew for the rest of the city remains at the usual 10pm. If a minor is caught outside during curfew hours, both the minor and his or her parents will receive a punishment. The first offense will usually either be a warning or a small fine. Subsequent offenses could involve jail time for the minor and child neglect charges against the parents, plus larger fines.
The second part of Mayor Nutter's plan involves leaving city recreation centers open until 10pm, as well as actively promoting fun and non-violent activities for teenagers on weekend nights.
Quite frankly, this plan is a joke on both fronts. Mayor Nutter's plan does not tackle the flash mob issue head on. Rather, it dances around it in a manner that looks like progress on the surface, but in reality it does virtually nothing. It even emboldens the would-be attackers in a couple of ways. First off, enforcing a new, localized curfew does not address the problem at hand. Today the city has been bragging about the 60+ teenagers they plucked off the street this weekend, as if that somehow stopped a riot from occurring. That's misplaced logic. The only thing those kids did was walk down the street. They weren't beating up a person. They weren't rampaging through a store. They were WALKING DOWN THE DAMN STREET.
Seriously, Mayor Nutter, do you really believe that you can quash flash mobs by arresting anything that moves in Center City? If I may agree with a portion of the Tea Party philosophy for a moment (something that makes me cringe), creating a "nanny city" is very unfavorable to a lot of people. The city of Philadelphia, or any American city for that matter, shouldn't be telling people of any age when they can or cannot go outside. That decision should be made by the individual or by parents. The city's responsibility should lie in holding parents and kids accountable if they happen to make poor decisions when in public. In my opinion, curfews are outdated and ineffective policies that broadly restrict everybody's freedom in the name of "keeping our streets safe". Real life is not like Minority Report. You can't punish criminals before they commit a crime. And that is basically what Mayor Nutter is attempting to do right now.
Also, it should be noted that flash mobs can occur outside of the boundaries of Center City. Yes, the majority of of them have happened in the downtown area, but that doesn't mean that the mobs will move outside of that particular area in order to avoid the prying eyes of Mayor Nutter's PreCrime team (another Minority Report reference). As it stands right now, Nutter is playing what amounts to a really bad game of whack-a-mole. He's got the hammer pressed down on Center City, but the ability for other mobs, or "moles" to spring up in other sections of the city is there. So while the curfew is aggressively enforced by a heavy police presence in one area, the rest of the city becomes that much more vulnerable to thuggery and mob rule.
The second part of Mayor Nutter's plan is even more misguided than the first part. Keeping rec centers open later does NOTHING to prevent flash mobs. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It is not a lack of "fun activities" that has driven members of the city's youth use to resort to muggings and beatings for entertainment. It is because of these four things:
1. A lack of respect
2. A lack of proper parenting
3. A lack of a proper conscience
4. A lack of being held accountable by law enforcement
Those are the four issues that have created this mob epidemic the most. The last one in particular has had a profound effect on the former three. Without real jail time and real fines, the message will never get across that senseless violence will not be tolerated by the city and by the community. These kids aren't acting the way they do because the basketball courts aren't open at nighttime (and if they were, that would be an even greater problem). They're acting the way they do because they want to act that way. The empowerment and control they gain through the "mob mentality", coupled with the exploitation of lightning-fast communication capabilities in social media, is something that these kids see as favorable. For that small window of time in which "the mob" is active, they are in charge. They run the block. And that to them is really funny and really entertaining.
Mayor Nutter shouldn't be playing the role of Citywide Dad for the youth of Philadelphia. He should send a message to dads that will get them to be dads. That can be done through heavy fines and charges of child neglect. To the mayor's credit, he has done the latter. But not the former. $500 dollars is too small. $5,000 would be more appropriate.
So, how would I deal with this flash mob problem? Well, I would first find a way to better mobilize the Philadelphia Police Department so that they can quickly respond to mob activity before it gets out of control. Right now, the kids are better organized than the cops. They can gather quickly in one area by sending out a mass text or tweet, and they can disperse just as quickly. The police, meanwhile, take too long to even get to the scene of mob activity, and when they do show up they are heavily undermanned. I would create some sort of system that detects mob gatherings in progress. That can be done without enacting Orwellian measures, like setting up a "Tweet Monitoring Department" or some shit like that. Instead, the police should make 911 calls involving "a group of rowdy kids" or "a disruptive gathering" top priorities, right up there with murder, robbery, and the like. There should also be a heavier police presence in flash mob hot spots (something that is currently being done, but only to enforce the inane curfew). In the event that a flash mob gets completely out of hand, the riot police should be called in without any hesitation.
No, that's not excessive force, that's appropriate force. Fight fire with fire.
Secondly, I would increase the mandatory minimum sentence for those caught vandalizing or assaulting in a flash mob. The time served should be years, not months.
Thirdly, I would created a tiered fine scale for the parents or guardians of these juvenile delinquents. First offense, the parent/guardian gets a $500 dollar fine. Second offense, $1500 fine. Third offense, $5000 fine. Any further offenses, and the parent/guardian gets jail time as well.
Fourthly, I would require any first time flash mob offender to complete 50-100 hours of community service, preferably by correcting the wrongs that they partook in. They would clean storefronts, visit abuse victims in the hospital, etc. Use the opportunity to teach them some respect, without taking on the direct parenting role that Mayor Nutter seems so set on doing.
Flash mobs are a serious problem. Therefore, serious solutions are needed to correct the problem. This is not something that can be solved through broad restrictions and feel good photo ops at bowling alleys. In order to end flash mobs, we need to go to the roots of the problem. Until then, no real progress towards "making our streets" safer will occur.
Simple solution: the employee behind the counter, as soon as the mob comes in, walks outside with a bike lock and locks the door handles together. They're trapped inside like the vermin they are, and he's safe outside. Call the cops. Arrest them all. Next problem?
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