| Author | Message | ||
     Lydia Supporter Username: Lydial Post Number: 958 Registered: 5-2001 |
I went to the Maplewood Pet store today (an MOL sponsor and all-around great store and 32-year business) The 12+' window was broken - both panes. The owner explained that on Friday night, after the MMS dance was over, a group of girls was rough-housing in front of the store around 10 pm and someone or several someones were pushed into the windows and the windows broke. There are several disturbing elements to this event IMO: 1. Why are adolescents unsupervised in the village at 10 o'clock at night? 2. Why should business owners have to worry about vandalism at an hour where 100's of people are milling around the village? 3. If the top portion of the plate glass window hadn't held and shattered, someone could have been maimed or killed. 4. Where are the parents? Cornocopia had a similar window-breaking episode last year by kids. Maplewood business owners need our support . If we want them to stay here and attract other businesses, the townspeople have to be considerate. Accidents happen, but many accidents are preventable. I hope that the girls involved in this incident come forward and at the very least apoligize. I imagine the damage runs into several thousand dollars - custom made glass, new signage, installation, etc. I don't think there's an easy solution but the kids walking in the street, blocking the sidewalks on weekend nights, markering on the front of the bank, etc., it still goes on. I really don't know what to do, adolescents need freedom and they talk a good game, but they often aren't ready to handle hanging out in town with their friends late at night. | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 1275 Registered: 6-2001 |
I wonder if the MOL Cam would have recorded the incident? | ||
| Dave -agent of MOL Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5417 Registered: 4-1998  |
the cam doesn't record. every 30 seconds or so the image is replaced with a new one and the previous is deleted. | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 1276 Registered: 6-2001 |
Was anyone out there watching the cam on Friday night at around 10:00? | ||
| Maple Man Citizen Username: Mapleman Post Number: 504 Registered: 6-2004  |
It's kind of frightening to think there might be someone out there with nothing better to do on a Friday night than watch a static image that only changes every 30 seconds. might be more fruitful to ask if anyone was in the vicinity of the pet store on Friday night. (which I would imagine the MPD has already done). | ||
| Parkbench87 Citizen Username: Parkbench87 Post Number: 1765 Registered: 7-2001  |
Lydia, Can I assume there were some witnesses since a connection seems to be drawn between the MMS Dance and the broken window. However the dance let out at 9:00 PM Sharp. Can anyone actually verify that these were MMS students. I hope whomever is responsible comes forward. | ||
| Reflective Citizen Username: Reflective Post Number: 776 Registered: 3-2003 |
lydia re:#4 where were the police? With the numbers of kids out on Friday night shouldn't they have someone on the Beat? Particularly after a MMS dance. The kids are getting rougher. | ||
| Parkbench87 Citizen Username: Parkbench87 Post Number: 1767 Registered: 7-2001 |
While I agree that there should be a Police Officer in town during the weekend nights let's not paint students with a broad brush. I've been at all 3 MMS Dances this year and there have been no problems at all. | ||
| Reflective Citizen Username: Reflective Post Number: 779 Registered: 3-2003 |
But PB87 - being at the dance is not being downtown after the dance. and the point is to have a visible, not oppressive, police presence for our teenies. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 630 Registered: 1-2004  |
How does he know it was girls? I feel bad for the owner he's a nice guy. Maybe an announcement can be made at MMS. Let the students know he understand it was an accident, but someone needs to own up to it. | ||
| Lydia Supporter Username: Lydial Post Number: 959 Registered: 5-2001 |
My first thought was "where were the police?" But then I thought why should police have to patrol Maplewood village? One beat officer should be enough. Springfield Ave has car thefts and real crime (diminishing, but it's still there) When I was a 7th grader I had to report to my mother where I was and what I was up to. After a school dance we usually had a sleep-over and a parent picked us up. I don't know if the girls who broke the window are "bad" or "good" kids - the line is muddy when they're unsupervised. I can imagine myself when I was in Jr. High pushing limits and then pushing too hard and running away. It's not the kids - it's the parents assuming that their children have judgement skills that they haven't learned yet. | ||
| Dave -agent of MOL Moderator Username: Dave Post Number: 5419 Registered: 4-1998 |
(As the newly-appointed legal scholar for MOL, I doubt the camera on MOL could provide the resolution required to, for example, resolve a person's face from that distance. However, with adequate funding in place and cooperative property-owners, I don't see why we couldn't install a network of public cameras.) | ||
| Catastrophe Citizen Username: Cat Post Number: 63 Registered: 6-2003  |
actually, I like to sit and watch the Village Cam. I can watch it for hours on end - it's fascinating. In fact I was watching on Friday night, and I did see some sort of disturbance in front of the pet store around 10 pm. It was a group of about half a dozen females. Other than that, I can't help you out much - all you humans look alike. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7761 Registered: 5-2001 |
A window gets broken on Maplewood Avenue at least once a year because of kids rough housing either after school or in the evening. Heck a few months ago a student driver from Millburn actually drove into Kim's Nails. It is sort of a right of passage for seventh and eighth graders to hang out in the Village. I admit both our kids did this, along with all their friends. There was almost always a beat officer on duty to keep things from getting to far out of hand. I think, since there is no indication that there was a fight or that this was a deliberate act, it was an accident. I am glad nobody was injured. | ||
| r2boy Supporter Username: R2boy Post Number: 210 Registered: 5-2001 |
I often wonder why the Rec dept doesn't sponsor something on a Friday night for the teens in the area?A gathering place to just meet and hang out with adult supervision.In the 50's there was always the Baird Community Center which had teen gatherings every Friday night..Both Mplwd and S.O. teens were welcome..Not a priority I guess.. | ||
| Hank Zona Citizen Username: Hankzona Post Number: 2071 Registered: 3-2002 |
r2boy, alot of folks are out there trying to work on something for teens...a few problems off the bat...space, money, supervision. MMS HSA met with students a number of times to try and come up with ideas and activities...the Rec Department successfully had a couple of teen swim nights last summer. Its just a few drops in the bucket, but people, including the TC, are actively trying to come up with alternatives for teens. I think one problem is that there are alot of people in town trying to come up ideas and solutions but its not unified. My guess is before long the efforts will become better organized. | ||
| cmontyburns Citizen Username: Cmontyburns Post Number: 722 Registered: 12-2003  |
This doesn't sound like anything that hasn't been happening since the dawn of time. Or at least the dawn of teenagers. | ||
| Wendyn Supporter Username: Wendyn Post Number: 1420 Registered: 9-2002 |
Although I'm sure their efforts are commendable, the last thing I would want to do as a teen is hang out at a school or rec dept function at night. I'd rather be breaking windows (and running away). | ||
| Valentine Michael Smith Citizen Username: Umbert Post Number: 86 Registered: 3-2004  |
maybe it was PETA.... | ||
| Rick B Citizen Username: Ruck1977 Post Number: 487 Registered: 8-2003 |
girls rough house? enough to shatter a 12' window? I wouldn't call that roughhousing, I'd call it violence.... |
