According to WTHR-TV violence involving teens has been creating a lot of security concerns for area malls, including Castleton Square, here fights broke out last weekend. So this weekend, police and mall security are teaming up to make the area safer.
In fact, instead of all the North District officers checking in at their headquarters, Saturday they will have their roll call at the mall.
Teens will be discouraged from hanging in large groups. In fact, no more than four teens can gather together in a group.
There will be additional security guards inside the mall a nd additional IMPD officers outside of the mall.
Police hope this will be enough to assure shoppers they are safe. ” That way, it’s less intimidating to other citizens that are shopping in the area and we’re there to assist, if anything goes awry,” said IMPD Commander Tom Koppel, “Or a disturbance that they can’t handle inside the mall.”
Inside the mall was where the trouble started last weekend. A fight broke out in a store when several teens knocked over a clothing rack and security stepped in. The violence spilled out into the center of the mall where more than 20 people got involved.
A short time later another fight broke out near the McDonalds next to the mall parking lot. Police say scenes like the one from last weekend wouldn’t happen if parents would not allow their teens to hang out at the mall unsupervised.
That’s why mall security ishanding out a letter to parentswho come to the mall this weekend. It includes a code of conduct that everyone will be held to. And it asks that children and teens not be dropped off at the mall to just “hang out.”
Not only are parents leaving their teens unsupervised, new modes of communication and social networking are challenging security and police.
“Police used to have their radio that gave us an advantage in communication in putting people in different places,” Koppel explained. “And (now) people can text message to have a whole group of people go somewhere else. So it just depends on where they go. We’ll re-deploy resources as we see it.”
The code specifically outlines appropriate behavior including no yelling, no fighting and no loitering. They stress that anyone who violates the code of conduct could be banned from the mall or even arrested.
Source: WTHR-TV
