| Author |
Message |
    
tabby
Citizen
Username: Tabby
Post Number: 230
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 8, 2006 - 9:25 pm: |     |
Last night there were alot of high school kids on S Pierson. Nothing happened. The police were called to check it out. Anyone know what this was? A big mobile party?? |
cmontyburns
Citizen
Username: Cmontyburns
Post Number: 1666
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, January 8, 2006 - 9:29 pm: | |
I guess I'm missing the rest of the story. There was a group of kids on S Pierson and they _________ so someone called the police. |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 1520
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 8, 2006 - 9:43 pm: | |
If Woody had gone straight to the police, this never would have happened. |
bill671
Citizen
Username: Bill671
Post Number: 277
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, January 8, 2006 - 11:14 pm: | |
If they were there, and it appeared to be out of the ordinary, that should be reason enough.
Heck of a lot better than waiting for a problem to develop, or someone get hurt and then regret calling. |
cmontyburns
Citizen
Username: Cmontyburns
Post Number: 1667
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 8:36 am: | |
I guess I still don't know what inherent danger exists whenever kids gather in a group.
"Last night there were alot of high school kids on S Pierson. Nothing happened."
What am I missing?
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monster
Supporter
Username: Monster
Post Number: 1848
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 8:54 am: | |
I guess it could make a difference as to what time this gathering was, exactly where this gathering took place, how much noise & activity (and what kind of noise & activity), and just how many kids were gathered, etc., etc....
Oh yeah, and just how cautious & paranoid you may be, or just want to be a snoopy party pooper.
All in all, it's not really a bad thing to be cautious and caring, although I think good reason (and perhaps sound judgement if one possesses it) is called for. |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 977
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 8:58 am: | |
I recall from previous threads that the police PREFER to be called earlier rather than later. So if it seems a little odd to you, go ahead and call! Let the MPD figure out what's going on... that's what they're there for. |
slipknot (slippy)
Citizen
Username: Zotts
Post Number: 208
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 9:12 am: | |
I saw a large group of adults gathered at the Prospect/Harvard intersection this morning, They were milling around aimlessly. Should I have called the police? |
cmontyburns
Citizen
Username: Cmontyburns
Post Number: 1668
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 9:19 am: | |
But again: WHAT WERE THE KIDS DOING? "Existing" isn't a crime. Nor is it worth calling the police for.
Were they loud? Fighting? Shooting people? Stuffing body parts into a suitcase?
Tabby, any more info? |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 10206
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 9:25 am: | |
Is loitering a crime here? I knwo there is some dsicussion about revising our ordinance covering this, but is it currently illegal?
With that said high school kids tend to have parties on weekends. As the parties break up (or are broken up by the police for noise) the kids migrate to another house. We have seen as many as 50 kids at a single house.
Although because the initial post is so spotty I am just guessing. |
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 978
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 11:13 am: | |
Personally I'd let the police decide what is worthy of their attention.
I don't know if 'loitering' is a crime here or not, but I'm confident that any large gathering of Maplewood/South Orange teenagers will be polite, quiet, and well behaved. I wouldn't be surprised if that group of teenagers was trying to organize a committee to help clean litter off the streets, in fact.
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ffof
Citizen
Username: Ffof
Post Number: 4319
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 11:26 am: | |
Loitering? Existing?
PLEASE, everyone. If you see a whole lot of teenagers on the street on a Friday or Saturday night, CALL THE POLICE! I am serious. THe kids are partying, drinking, etc and, since I have a roaming teen boy, I need the help of my town to help curtail this behavior when they see these large gatherings. Calling the police is good because it may help to prevent them from getting in cars with drunk drivers, etc.
Mostly they are being very social and looking for something to do, but they are all trying booze etc. THis is a crazy age. As a parent you want to give them a bit of independence, but it is a fine line. You keep a curfew and have them call on cell phones about where they are, etc, but they will try to get away with what they can.
Someone may come on here and say "Well control your own d*mn kid" and that is understandable that someone would say that, but if there are parents of teens here, you know what I'm talking about.
So, please. Call the police when you see this. If my kid gets dragged down to the police station, then good. He'll maybe learn a lesson the hard way, but better that than get in a car with other drinking teens.
Thank you. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 11829
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 11:40 am: | |
This is one reason why I want to live in a small town. So the kids are under the scrutiny of everyone else, including the police, but not exclusively the police.
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breal
Citizen
Username: Breal
Post Number: 688
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 12:15 pm: | |
I'm with ffof. I wonder how old Cmonty's kids are.
It's a weekend night. It's teenagers. They've probably been asked to leave a party house. Seems wise to summon the police, for crowd control. The slow approach of a cop car might stimulate some of them to get rid of any booze they are holding. (It had that effect on me, back in the day!) Party's over. De-clump them. Move them along. It takes a village to raise a teen, and not by doing nothing. |
cmontyburns
Citizen
Username: Cmontyburns
Post Number: 1669
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 12:24 pm: | |
Just curious: How do you know this was a party breaking up? Doesn't seem like there's any info here at all, including how many kids there were and what they were doing.
My point was simply that hanging out with your friends in a group shouldn't in and of itself be a crime.
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Meandtheboys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 2589
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 12:26 pm: | |
breal, "de-clump" them!  I love that.
I'm with you and Tom and ffof on this. I'd like to know that other folks are going to be keeping an eye on my kids if they're somewhere I'm not, doing something they shouldn't when they're teenagers. And I want my kids to know they might not be able to "get away" with stuff because someone might be watching them. |
ffof
Citizen
Username: Ffof
Post Number: 4323
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 12:30 pm: | |
You're right, cmonty, nothing specific was really written in this thread, but take it from me, mother of one of the teens and mother who knows many other mothers of teens, it was definietly a party breaking up on S. Pierson. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 11832
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 1:14 pm: | |
It's not a crime, and it wasn't treated as such. The police are allowed to ask what's going on. And it's good for the kids to know that people are watching them. If the cops are good, they'll let the kids know that they are not being accused, just watched. And asking them to move along or keep quiet is fine, too.
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greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6521
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 2:39 pm: | |
Last Spring, a kid on our block had a HS graduation party. It broke up around 1am and there was clearly alcohol involved. After 30 minutes of non-de-clumping, someone did call the police. Two MPD cars showed up. They were amazing. As they moved the kids along, they were congratulating them on their achievement, made admiring comments to one who was driving the new car just given to him by his parents, and assessed the drivers on whether they were fit to drive.
I sat on my deck and watched this all close up. There were a few kids who were obviously drunk, but since they were passengers and not drivers, the cops asked them if they were OK and sent them on home. They did not overreact (although it would have been appropriate to visit the parents of the host about alcohol at the party; don't know if that happended).
When a couple girls lingered in front of our house and got into a fight over who was talking to whose boyfriend and another started calling her friends to come "help", we called MPD back. They came quickly and followed the girls as they drove away.
IMHO, MPD has a great way with teens and there is no harm in giving them a call. |
Meandtheboys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 2595
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 6:14 pm: | |
"non-de-clumping" |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 3527
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 7:21 pm: | |
Greentree-
I'm sorry but the cops made a very big mistake. If this was a high school graduation party and there were kids who were 'obviously drunk' passenger or not, they should have been arrested. Unless of course they were over the age of 21. But if that's the case, why were they at a high school graduation party?
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greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6526
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 9, 2006 - 9:59 pm: | |
JTA - I disagree. It could have escalated into a very ugly situation. The kids had no open containers, nor any containers at all, in fact. They were not "disorderly" at a level that called for arrest. They de-clumped as instructed. I do think that the parents of the hosts should have been dealt with.
The situation was difused and there were no drunk driving accidents that night (that I know of and I think we all would have been talking about it online the next day if there had been).
I think that MPD has a tough balancing act between keeping the community safe and good relationships with brain-dead teens. If part of that is that a few kids get driven home, puking their guts out, that's a small price to pay.
One can only hope that they had to answer to their parents. |
Camnol
Citizen
Username: Camnol
Post Number: 202
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - 8:29 am: | |
Ah, this reminds me of my high school years in Virginia. It was a more rural area, so there was no place to walk to, so we drove up and down the streets of the "downtown," waving to our friends (learner's permit at 15 1/2, driver's license at 16). Then we would meet up in the Montgomery Wards parking lot and chat (no alcohol). Police would come by, remind us that we couldn't hang out there, and the process would start again.
We were so cool.  |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 10220
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - 8:47 am: | |
To me this is kind of a Ying and Yang situation.
On the one hand the police handle a bunch of party animal high school students with kid gloves and on the other we are ready to pass an ordinance to prohibit walking in the street, an ordinance everyone knows is directed against another group of teens.
I know our kids benefited by the MPDs gentle approach on parties when they were in HS, but is this fair? |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 6530
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - 9:29 am: | |
Bob - I'm not sure what you mean by one group of kids compared to another.
I am no expert, but I firmly believe that most undesirable teen behavior is a result of adolescent stupidity and insecurity. Hence pack behavior. Not saying that there aren't real thugs out there, but the kids in the former group should be treated as if all they need is a little mature guidance to get everyone home safely.
The street ordinance should be handled the same way - reminding the kids to be courteous and use the sidewalks for their own and drivers' safety. It's all how the enforcement is carried out. I would be appalled if SWAT teams came screeching up to groups of kids in the street, drawing weapons and arresting them for their crime.
Why can't all kids be treated the same way? I think that MPD can continue to provide guidance in a respectful manner no matter where the kids need it. |
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