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PILING ON

Teenage Flash Mobs Wreak Havoc on NYC Vendors

NYPD less than effective in tackling the problem, merchants complain

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Image: CBS

Some so-called "flash mobs" dance. The other kind descend on street-side vendors to wreak havoc.

New York City's newsstand proprietors are complaining of assemblies of 20, 30, and 40 or more teens suddenly storming their shops and taking off with merchandise, while leaving destruction and rattled nerves in their wake, reports CBS. It's a problem that's surfaced in the last few years in other major cities as well, including Chicago and Philadelphia, the report notes.

"They assemble, they do whatever it is that they're going to do, and then they disassemble in a matter of minutes," explained a professor of criminal justice to reporters. "By the time somebody recognizes what is happening or is injured, if the police are able to respond, it's slow."

The police response has been so ineffective, complains one merchant, that he's been forced to close in the afternoons for fear of being ransacked.

"All our displays are broken," said the owner of the Manhattan-based business.

But while the NYPD has been a disappointment on the flash mob front of late, shop owners say that in past years plainclothes officers have successfully helped to curb the flash mob phenomenon.

"It's against the law," said one Brooklyn resident. "They should address the problem [like] they address every other issue."

Via CBS.
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What would help solve the problem of flash mobs in US cities?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • Thunderchicken
    !
    @PayThatCEO

    Yeah but it probably cause perminent injuries. I've also heard of guys loading peas into shotgun shells. Now that's just cruel.

  • View all 11 replies >

  • Happy2BeHere
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    @Medicinebow. I agree. I've never lived in a big city, and hopefully never will. Small town living is so nice, I don't understand what attracts people to big cities.
  • stepped_in_it
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    "Flash mobs" = controlled riots!
    I experienced the L.A. riots of '68 & '92 from an uncomfortably close distance. These "riots" were nothing more than an excuse to plunder and pillage, burn and reek havoc on vendors and shop owners that the rioters felt "took advantage" of them! It was, at best, a mob mentality of take what you can as fast as you can!
    Sounds like these "flash mobs" have learned from those incidents!
  • MarkJM
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    Arm these vendors with non-lethal rounds (i.e. rock salt bags, "hornets nests," bean bags, tazers, etc.) Post a sign saying said vendor is armed and that criminal violators will be met with force until law enforcement arrives. I'll bet these punk kids would think twice about their mischievous activities. The reason they're doing this is because in their minds they know they can get away with it, they're not held accountable nowadays (thanks lazy "Parents" who choose to spare the rod and spoil the child)...
  • MarkJM
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    @ConserveUSA I agree, but unfortunately this is the "feel special" generation, where discipline, punishment, accountability, and reality are outright ignored or distorted. My girlfriend has a problem with this. She spoils her child and then wonders why he gets all the attitude towards her. Time and time again I tell her to put him over the knee and then stick him in a corner. Apparently "that's too harsh"....we're doomed....

  • View all 6 replies >

  • u
    botsmom
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    I am so F...ing tired of the police doing NOTHING on property crimes. Vendors are a great part of life in the city. I would seriously be glad to patrol as a vigilante. Good people shouldn't have to live in terror. Have gun..will travel:-)
  • SavageMazx
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    Time to put Uncle Joe's "a shotgun is better than an assault rifle. Of course with 30 and 40 looters in your store a better have a pump
    than a double barrel.
  • Your_Name_Here
    !
    I love how the media uses the word "Teenage" that carries the connotation of some little kids pulling a prank when it could easily be a group of 6' 200+ lb. prison fodder that could and would just as easily kill you as to rob you. I'm sure these vendors don't have a heavily armed posse to protect them like the idiot mayor Bloomberg who wants to take everyone's guns away. Too bad all your tax dollars protect people like him and not yourselves.
  • stepped_in_it
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    HMMM.....from the picture (which is from video surveillance cameras), they don't look like "prison fodder" to me. They kinda look like >18 year old kids who have a "mob-gang" mentally....but my eyes can be deceiving me!
  • u
    mtkopf
    !
    @stepped_in_it as this has been on the news in Chicago in the warmer months, it is high school kids doing this.

    Why are they doing it? Boredom maybe. If there were actually part time jobs for these kids, they might be less inclined to engage inthis sort of behavior. Makes me rethink that .25ยข tax on gym sshoes; it sounds kind of reasonable now.
  • DARSB
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    How about we have that posse of senior delinquents from the Taco Bell Superbowl ad show up and show 'em how it's done?
  • harold_lloyd
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    Everyone who suggested great bodily harm in response to a flash mob, please go but some perspective.

    What will solve the problem is monitoring twitter and text traffic in real time.

    Also have to consider that there is some apparent lack of parenting going on.
  • u
    mtkopf
    !
    You are correct, there is a lack of parenting, possibly due to both parents having to work to make ends meat.

    I remember that age, if I wasn't in football season, I was working in fast food. It seems that now, all those fast food jobs go to ppl who no habla English.

    As for those who are suggesting violence, I agree with you, violence is a major overreaction. What's next, shooting the teenage kids who t.p. your trees?
  • u
    seedtick
    !
    Make the penalties for doing this severe enough and then ENFORCE the penalties. No one is taking this crap seriously enough. If it were my store attacked, I would lock the door and let them out as they paid for their items or showed that they had nothing. Call it illegal confinement if you want, but I call it a merchant's right to control a crowd that is stealing from him. If the police won't stop it the merchant should be able to take action as he sees fit.
  • MongoAPillager
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    that one young feller in the front looks like he could be obama's son if he had a son,maybe our president needs to stop their after he gets thru educating the chicagoans for mr. jackson.maybe the prez will send some educational drones there way?
  • u
    BelinKS
    !
    I'm a little torn. I believe both of the top two options should be done. More of a police presence is always good. There also needs to be things to do geared forward these kids to keep them busy and keep them from doing this sort of thing. A deterrent would also be good. Police officers going to the schools to discuss this issue and telling the teens what could happen to them if caught stealing and destroying property. Most stores have video recordings, so if they do this in a store they can be identified by the video and arrested later. Just because they got away at the time of the incedense doesn't mean they won't get caught and charged with everything even if they were not one of the ones that stole or destroyed things. If done to a street vendor, I think that adults on the street should come to the vendors aid. If at all possible I think the street vendors that can, need to use video surveylence also. It's sad that it would have to come to that, but these vendors need to be proactive to protect themselves. Put out a large sign that says video surveylence is being used. That could be a good deterrent.
  • Antony
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    This isn't a flash mob. These are criminals. If a vendor was attacked four times in a matter of weeks, can they not have an officer on scene monitoring the area? Even if he is able to arrest one of them, it should at least scare the rest.

    I have a feeling these ransacking mobs are organized online. I also have a feeling if these vendors were armed, this would not happen.
  • mudpike
    !
    Yea or how about a 'flash mob of pi$$ed of vendors' with baseball bats teaching the punk hoodlums some manners they should have learned at home. And no free medical for any of them afterward - let them flash medicate .
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