Philadelphia mayor talks tough to black teenagers after ‘flash mobs’

Philadelphia has been plagued by teen violence, but the City of Brotherly Love is fighting back.

Mayor Michael Nutter announced this week a robust initiative that began with a stiff curfew at 9 p.m. Friday.

The effort comes after a string of attacks on residents by groups of young people who are alerted to sudden gatherings at a given place via e-mail and social media.

"It's a growing problem in this country, police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey told CNN Friday.

Nutter delivered tough remarks about the problem in a church sermon Sunday that has received national and international attention, a blunt no-excuses scolding that happened to coincide with the start of the England riots.

An African-American, Nutter noted that those involved in the Philadelphia attacks are predominantly black and said their behavior damaged themselves and damaged their race.

He upheld religious values, underscored the importance of parental discipline and lambasted absentee parents, particularly fathers, for neglecting and not keeping watch over their children.

He said fathering is engaging with the child and shaping them. He described a neglectful dad as a "human ATM" or a "sperm donor."

Accordingly, his measures target both the young attackers and their parents or legal guardians.

Nutter signed an order temporarily moving the curfew to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for everyone under the age of 18 in targeted enforcement districts.

They are in Center City, the downtown area, and University City, the West Philadelphia neighborhood where the University of Pennsylvania is located. Throughout the rest of the city, the curfew will remain 10 p.m. for those under the age of 13 and those for minors under the age of 18.

"Minors who are caught breaking curfew will be sent home, brought home or transported to a police station where their parents will be contacted. Minors may be issued a citation with a $100 to $300 fine for a first offense," the city said in a press release.

Parents will receive a first-violation notice and then will be fined up to $500 for successive violations.

"These notices and citations will be issued when the parent comes to collect their child from the police station."

If parents don't come for their child "within a reasonable time, police will contact the Department of Human Services to start an investigation.

Mr. Nutter announced that he was beefing up police patrols in certain neighborhoods, enlisting volunteers to monitor the streets and moving up the weekend curfew for minors to 9 p.m.

Parents will face increased fines for each time their child is caught violating the curfew.

The head of Philadelphia’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, J. Whyatt Mondesire, said it “took courage” for Mr. Nutter to deliver the message.

“These are majority African-American youths and they need to be called on it,” Mr. Mondesire said.

Mary Catherine Roper, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said her group sees the curfew move as legal with its sole caveat being that it not evolve “into an excuse to hassle” any youths on the street.

The state ACLU filed a federal lawsuit last year challenging Philadelphia police’s use of “stop and frisk” searches. A settlement announced in June allowed the program to continue, along with safeguards to prevent the use of racial profiling.

In the past two years, the City of Brotherly Love has been the scene of several flash mobs in which youths meet at planned locations by texting one another and then commit assorted mayhem.

In one episode, teens knocked down passers-by on a Center City street and entered an upscale department store where they assaulted shoppers. On another occasion, hundreds of teens gathered in a restaurant district and menaced patrons, forcing some restaurant owners to lock customers inside temporarily for their own protection or to close early.

In the latest event July 29, about 20 to 30 youths descended on Center City after dark, then punched, beat and robbed bystanders. One man was kicked so savagely that he was hospitalized with a fractured skull. Police arrested four people, including an 11-year-old.

Other cities have grappled with the problem of destructive flash mobs. In Chicago on Memorial Day weekend, roving teens flashed gang signs, knocked cyclists off their bikes and harassed picnickers. Police closed a popular beach as the violence escalated.

In January, dozens of young people stormed a popular Milwaukee mall late in the afternoon and scared customers and store employees.

Philadelphia: Tackle the reasons for flash mobs

Kansas City officials aren’t sure what more they can do to control large crowds of underage teens congregating at night around the city, especially on the Country Club Plaza.

So they’re keeping an eye on an experiment in Philadelphia, which this week began enforcing a 9 p.m. curfew to counter the violence and rude behavior of teenagers congregating in that city’s central business district.

While not specifically asking for a similar policy here, an attorney for Plaza owner Highwoods Properties said Friday that his client would support an earlier curfew in the shopping and entertainment district.

“It’s been one of the items that’s been discussed,” said Spencer Thomson of Husch Blackwell LLP. But Highwoods is open to any strategy that would improve the situation, he said.

“We want a solution to the problem.”

What effect the early curfew might have in Philadelphia is anyone’s guess. But because Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia is looked upon as an innovator by other big-city mayors, Mayor Sly James is eager to learn if any lessons might apply here.

“Is it needed? Is it appropriate? Would it work? Those are the questions we’d be asking,” said Danny Rotert, James’ spokesman.

It would take council action to change the current curfew, which is midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. the rest of the week.

Some have suggested that James has the authority to issue an emergency curfew. The intent of that provision, however, is for it to be a tool used to respond to natural disasters or riots of the type Kansas City experienced in the 1960s, not kids congregating on sidewalks, Rotert said.

James plans to be on the Plaza tonight around 8:30 along with former councilman Alvin Brooks and a group of inner-city ministers to assess the situation.

Ever since the summer of 2003, when Bill Wasik, a senior editor of Wired magazine, who happens to be white, first introduced the notion of a flash mob at Macy's department store in New York, young people have used Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, MySpace, and other media to demonstrate in commercial and public spaces that they have power, too.

What are the young people inGreat Britain, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, and, yes, Philadelphia, saying that we are not hearing? Young people don't just magically appear en masse. What pain are they experiencing that we cannot see or feel?

"A riot is the language of the unheard," said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hence, when we see young people rioting or in flash mobs, it is because they feel powerless and want to be heard. Those with a clear sense of hope and a bright future don't cause havoc simply because they have nothing better to do.

When all black children are lumped together with a few bad actors, the powers-that-be, especially the police, don't distinguish between them. Consequently, all black children are endangered and the potential is increased for stirring up the not-so-hidden racism in the City of Brotherly Love.

The violence that has ailed the black community for decades is symptomatic of the ills blacks contend with economically, educationally, politically, and socially. Some in the black community are victims of "terror" on a daily basis.

But, as it is with any other problem, as long as violence stays in the black community, the media, politicians, and authorities can ignore the systemic issues and treat us all alike. However, the moment the problem spreads into Center City, or is no longer contained within our communities, there is outrage.

This is not only problematic, but sickening. When we value the lives of those who live in Center City more than those who live in North, South, or West Philadelphia, we are sending a message that the lives of those who have been "kissed by nature's sun" don't matter. The issues plaguing our youths should have been addressed some time ago, and should be addressed by all of us.

Frederick Douglass warned that "Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe."

We can no longer ignore the cries of our children. They need more than tough talk, a few recreation centers, and inevitable profiling by the police. They need involved, loving parents, quality education, jobs, and mentors. They need community-focused churches, mosques, and synagogues. They need us. Only then will the flash mobs disperse.

As always, keep the faith, and let's stop talking, start listening, and begin solving the urban challenges of our great city.