Flash Mobs

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Anywhere...

As these increase.....I wonder....do parents have any idea where their kids are?

Figure 20 kids all gang together into one of these to shoplift....that is 20 kids whose parents are.....clueless as to the actions of their kids.....

:(

flash mobs, like these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzN4633mpI


to your question; did your mother know where you were 100% of the time? I seriously doubt it. Heck, when I was young, especially in the summer time, I could be at friends houses or camping in nearby woods for a couple days at a time without showing up at the family home. Mom and dad generally knew who I was with but that was about it.

No, she's talking about "flash robs" like this.

Flash Robs started in Philadelphia and spread across the U.S.

The Hammer Time thing is hilarious.

But the flash mobs robbing places....not so funny. There was one on the news yesterday....group of 20 teens that went and stole $200 pairs of pants from an upscale store.

But I wonder how these teens are pulling off these flash robs and the parents don't notice? They don't say anything about those new clothes or other goods....

We live in a world where both parents working outside the home has become the norm, and a lot of parents are just too tired to pay much attention.

When snowstorms hit here and school is called off, my house is FULL of kids, because I'm the only Mom in the neighborhood at home. In some cases, I know more about a given kid than their parents do.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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We live in a world where both parents working outside the home has become the norm, and a lot of parents are just too tired to pay much attention.

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Actually, I think we are living in the age of single-parent households. As an example, in Philadelphia, according to the 2010 census, 34% of the households are single parent.

SC, yes, that's a huge contributing factor, too. There's a lot of regional variation, I'm sure.

Also, we seem to have abandoned the idea of everyone looking out for everyone's kids. Worst-first thinking and "stranger danger" attitudes have more or less convinced people to keep to themselves and not get involved, to the detriment of the community.

When I was growing up with my grandparents, everyone on the block knew who I was and where I belonged, and if I got distracted I could count on a neighbor telling me "Peach, your grandmother is looking for you." Now, neighbors look at each other with suspicion, and people complain about the kids instead of looking out for them. I've been called crazy to my face for opening my home to the neighborhood kids. What am I supposed to do? Let them stay locked out of their houses because their parents are already gone to work? Pffft. I'd rather have them here, shooting pool, playing XBox, and eating spaghetti than loose on the streets.

I saw the one here in Wicker Park. I saw the one here at Lollapalooza too! It's crazy! You'd think that there would be some nervousness about such a brazen breach of the law, but there isn't. The sad thing is that, they realize that there is strength in numbers. Cities like Chicago and Philly have to designate police to more violent areas of crime and more violent crimes in general, that the response times are delayed when it comes to trying to stop these incidents. Meanwhile mommy(usually, no daddy) questions why their innocent baby was shot or arrested when they were on of the few that got caught doing one of these.

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Quoting LawResearcherMissy

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When I was growing up with my grandparents, everyone on the block knew who I was and where I belonged, and if I got distracted I could count on a neighbor telling me "Peach, your grandmother is looking for you."

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I remember when the other adults in the neighborhood could give you an attitude adjustment if it was called for. If you're told mom is looking for you and you don't start that way, they could grab ya by the ear and deliver you.

I remember when teachers could actually control a classroom. If you acted out, a quick phone call to your parents would straighten it out really quick. Parents didn't ask the teacher what they did wrong, they ask the kid!

The mob mentality is quite a powerful thing. We've been taliking about this sorta thing for a while now at the job. About the only thing we logically came up with was not to interfere unless someone is in physical danger. I was at Riverport in 1991 (Guns N Roses riot) and saw how an unorganized reponse at the very start of things only incites further "activities" by the mob and results in dozens of them against three or four of us. Things wernt all that too pleasant til an organized, and well equipped, law enforcement response took control. Unfortunately, LE response takes a while.....and in that while it's you and your judgement formulating a logical response. Equally unfortunate is how hard it is to act logically when the extreme occurs. That's why we have a plan and will stick to it. Unless someone is in immediate danger, then it's use your best judgement.

I do, however, consider myself a little fortunate as we have a police station right across the street. And on our side of the mall!:)

We are a two parent household, and I cannot honestly say I know where my teenagers are 100% of the time. I know where they TELL me they are or are going, but I cannot say with any certainty that they stay there. And unless I want to put a GPS tracker on their cell phones I really cannot verify their location. I have to trust that they have some level of common sense, even though I know that this has not always been the case.

So, I cannot blame the parents for not knowing where their kids are. I CAN blame parents that might have encouraged an attitude in their kids that says they can take whatever they can get away with.