Drawing the line in Spring field
Spring, and a young man’s fancy turns to … playing chicken with motorists? Yes, at least for some kids in Springfield, where police are dealing with a spring rash of unruly youths.
Thankfully, most of us will never come face-to-face with violent crime. That includes most kids as well. But there is always that few who insist on stretching the boundaries of behavior, veering wildly back and forth across the line of what is legal and illegal.
Most of this stuff the bulk of citizens deal with is what can be described as “nuisance crime.” They are the small incidents that prove to be a detriment to our quality of life. Like teenagers, for instance. Before we go any further, let’s set some ground rules. We all were young once. We all likely did a little bit of what we’ll term “sowing our wild oats.”
Luckily, some of us grew up before the Internet age. Before we posted all of our most intimate moments – including many we likely will live to regret – on social media. We did not need to gloat in our rebellious teen ways by plastering our actions all over Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter.
All of this appears to be coming to a head this week in Springfield Township, where the chief of police offered a simple piece of advice to groups of youths who are causing problems in his town: Knock it off. Or else.
What are we talking about? Some of it is simply the usual teen bravado, such as petty vandalism and littering, blocking the street with their bikes, playing games of chicken with motorists and making rude remarks.
As you might expect, it has a tendency to escalate from there. Police also in recent weeks have been investigating stones being thrown at SEPTA trolleys, pedestrian assaults and even a strongarm robbery.
Chief Joe Daly decided to go on Facebook to try to nip some of this teen angst in the bud. Daly wanted to send a message – to both teens and adults – in the township that “enough is enough,” as the top cop said.
He also sent a robo message to every home in the township. In it he warned of groups of teens congregating at various locations or roaming the township engaging in underage drinking, drug use, vandalism, littering and bullying.
It’s the kind of thing kids have been doing forever.
But Daly says his officers have been seeing an uptick both in the number of incidents, as well as them veering in a more dangerous direction. He pointed out the danger inherent in kids on bikes playing chicken with motorists, fearing that at some point a township youth could be seriously injured during one of these “pranks.”
It is something that every town experiences with young people rebelling and exercising their independence. Daly wants to head off this dangerous trend before someone gets hurt – or a young person winds up facing serious charges.
Obviously this does not pertain to the majority of township teens. But Daly is putting the 10 percent he believes are responsible for this sudden “quality of life” issue on notice that he’s drawing a line in the sand, if not on Springfield Road.
This isn’t something that occurs only in Springfield. Not far away in Eddystone, police there have been investigating a string of clashes among teens. Five kids have been cited for disorderly conduct; three juveniles will face petitions for assault and related offenses.
Two of the calls Eddystone officers recently responded to involved large groups of teens, as many as 30 each time.
Chief Edward Mokshefsky said he is planning to put out a message to borough residents similar to the one issued by his counterpart in Springfield.
This kind of thing happens every spring. The weather turns nice, kids head outside, band together, and mischief ensues.
The key is knowing where the line is between mischief and criminal activity.
Daly doesn’t want to start locking kids up. He’s hoping his message gets through, both to the young troublemakers, and their parents. And he has something to back it up. He reminds those involved that they could wind up facing some serious monetary consequences for their actions. That means fines ranging from $300 to $1,000.
Bottom line: Kids are always going to be kids.
So long as they know where to draw the line.
If they don’t, at least in Springfield, Chief Joe Daly will be only too happy to remind them.
You’ve been warned.
Bottom line: Kids are always going to be kids. So long as they know where to draw the line. If they don’t, at least in Springfield, Chief Joe Daly will be only too happy to remind them. You’ve been warned.