Malls study teen restrictions after brawls
Controversial limits could hinder efforts to woo consumers
CHICAGO — An unusually high number of teen fights at shopping centers across the U.S. over the Christmas weekend is prompting some mall operators to re-examine security policies and consider controversial restrictions on when and how teens may shop.
Security task force members from malls across the U.S. conducted a conference call Tuesday to discuss strategies for preventing mayhem, which may include more mall security or even bans on teens coming to malls alone, after multiple reports of teen fights over the four-day holiday, said Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers.
The need for more restrictions is “becoming somewhat more of a reality,” Cegielski said.
Still, mall operators worry expanding or initiating new limits could hinder retailers’ efforts to woo consumers away from internet shopping carts and back to the malls.
“There are a lot of properties that are hesitant to do it,” Cegielski said. “We’re all cognizant of what online shopping is doing and they want to keep people coming in. They don’t want to stifle that foot traffic at all.”
The mayhem that has rippled through malls in more than a dozen states continued Tuesday evening, The Washington Post reported, when about 200 rowdy teenagers showed up en masse at a Philadelphia mall in a gathering planned on Snapchat, officials said.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said police responded to a report of a disturbance at the Philadelphia Mills Mall about 6:45 p.m. The large group arrived by bus, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, but only about 30 or 40 were able to get inside.
“They went to the food court area and that’s when they started running around, yelling and screaming and acting disorderly,” Small told WPVI.
At least three teenage boys were arrested. This is the second time that a group of juveniles caused a disturbance at the same Philadelphia mall, according to the Inquirer.
In Aurora, Ill., eight teens have been charged after what police described as a “large disturbance” that temporarily closed Fox Valley Mall on Monday night. On Dec. 24, another fight broke out at the mall that did not appear to be related, according to a statement from Dan Ferrelli, an Aurora Police Department spokesman.
And on Christmas Eve in Gurnee, Ill., two small groups started fighting each other at Gurnee Mills. All the suspects were identified through security video, but no arrests have been made yet, authorities said.
Police in Aurora, Colo., are looking for help as they investigate fights that broke out at a mall on Monday. They’re asking anyone with photos or video of the disturbance at the Town Center at Aurora to share them with detectives.
Five juveniles were arrested after hundreds of young people converged there on the busy post-Christmas shopping day.
Police spokesman Sgt. Chris Amsler says the trouble started when an officer tried to arrest a 13-year-old girl suspected of fighting and several other teen girls tried to interfere. He says the officer was soon surrounded by a crowd that eventually grew to about 500 people.
While security task force members for the ICSC noted that Dec. 26 historically prompts an increase in fights, this year’s incidents seemed more prevalent perhaps because Christmas fell on a Sunday., offering teens and other shoppers one extra day to run into trouble, Cegielski said.
The incidents are prompting some mall operators to beef up security in anticipation of the upcoming long New Year’s weekend. Others are debating the need for parental guidance policies — rules that require children under the age of 18 to be accompanied by a parent. About 100 shopping centers already have some kind of teen restrictions, the ICSC said.