Our Views: Mall crowd raises issues

We’re glad that no one was seriously harmed during a recent incident at the Mall of Louisiana in which hordes of teens gathered at the mall on a Saturday evening, creating crowd control problems within the popular shopping area. The gathering was an apparent response to a mass invitation on Instagram, a popular Internet social network.

Law enforcement agencies responded to the scene in response to reports of fighting, which led to a stampede of patrons rushing to the exits.

The mall was evacuated and law enforcement officials directed juveniles in the mall to an open area where they waited for parents or guardians to pick them up. Mall officials closed the mall for the evening in response to the incident.

Several juveniles have been arrested in the incident, and the investigation is ongoing.

The response to the incident, along with efforts to keep everyone safe and send juveniles home, created a temporary traffic headache near the mall, but we’re relieved that no one was seriously hurt. We’re also happy that law enforcement officials appeared to respond quickly to the incident. We’re sure that law enforcement agencies learned a few things in responding to the problem, and their experience should help in responding if similar problems arise in the future.

The incident at the Mall of Louisiana was a testament to the growing power of social media in our world. Like any tool, social media can be an instrument of great good — and occasional mischief. The new reality of social media will mean new challenges for law enforcement officials.

We see no easy or quick answers for dealing with incidents such as the mass gathering at the Mall of Louisiana. The gathering certainly underscored the need for vigorous security at the mall. The incident prompted Baton Rouge Mayor Pro Tem Chandler Loupe to renew his call for a tighter curfew for teens in Baton Rouge. Such a measure would have had little effect on the mass gathering at the Mall of Louisiana, but Loupe framed his curfew idea as a possible first step toward enhancing public safety in Baton Rouge.

The Metro Council has rejected such a change to the local curfew ordinance in the past. We tend to doubt that changing the existing curfew ordinance would make Baton Rouge safer, but we see no harm in the council revisiting this topic and having a healthy debate on the issue.

Comments

1) Comment by billynurse - 12/01/2013

Being_stupid, here's your non- PC answer. White's problem - the continued prevalence of violence in young black culture. I grew up in north BR, going to predominantly black Glen Oaks Jr & High. We few timid "minority whites" were CONTINUALLY harrased, bullied, and yes, mugged. If I wanted to keep what was in my pockets when going to the bathroom, I had to hand it to a friend. Stupid fights every day! Needless to say, it was difficult to get ANY decent education. Thank God, despite our "powdered milk" upbringing, My parents taught my 5 brothers and me to respect people !! Parents! , step up and take responsibility for the PROPER raising of YOUR children !!! And "DMJ" , yes , it's not neccessarily about RACE, But it damn-well is an AVOIDABLE culture of Stupidity !!

2) Comment by Chucky - 10/01/2013

Kids remember, "You gotta fight for your right to PARTY ! "

3) Comment by mh1949 - 10/01/2013

Just a matter of time before the MOL becomes another Bon Marche and Cortana Mall. It will be taken over sooner than you would think.

4) Comment by Bouncer - 10/01/2013

The next time---and oh, yes, there WILL be a next time---things will get ratcheted up a notch or two. Young people by nature push things to see just how far they can go and how much they can get away with. This was just a trial run.

5) Comment by nimby? - 10/01/2013

if this was a staged event , involving this many people shouldn't someone of authority been contacted ahead of the time , perhaps a permit required ? the knee jerk reaction will be to punish everyone for the sins of a few who could care less , expect more of the same to come ....

6) Comment by DMJ - 10/01/2013

This has nothing to do with race.

7) Comment by Being_Stupid - 10/01/2013

Is this what Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed about when he had his dream? Young black folks need to understand that when they fight or kill one another over stupid trivial matters, that they are "representin" our whole entire race and their peers. Our ancestors didn't fight and struggle for equality for 500 plus years, just so a generation of their descendants could destroy it all in a matter of 20 years. Because of these 6 black thugs / haters / traitors decided to fight, all 200 of their peers that gathered to take an innocent picture are made to look like criminals. Thug = Traitor = Hater to their own race. It only takes a few rotten apples to make the whole tree of apples appear rotten.

8) Comment by Being_Stupid - 10/01/2013

6 black teens get in a fight at the mall, and 2000 white people have to overreact, panic, and shut the mall down. What is wrong with white people?

9) Comment by DMJ - 10/01/2013

And the overreaction continues. No one was hurt. There were no weapons (amazingly). Let's move on, shall we?

10) Comment by MBW - 10/01/2013

This editorial is reactionary. I've seen no evidence that the Instagram gathering at MOL had "mischievious" intent.

11) Comment by [e-mail] - 10/01/2013

Big Pharma? Bese? A good wide belt weilded firmly across some "child" bottoms would go a long way to solving a lof of such problems. Wait, I shouldn't say that. Of course, such "children" are too precious and must be understood;it was doubtless our failure to understand them which is what motivated their actions. Poor, poor, babies; forced to act out their frustrations in this way. Yes, we all need rehab before we can criticize them.

12) Comment by On_The_Fence - 10/01/2013

Be patient. Big Pharma will develop a drug for this behavior as soon as it gets classification as a "syndrome".

13) Comment by [e-mail] - 10/01/2013

The real question is what should the kids have been doing? Why are so many "kids" allowed to run around loose? Maybe these "kids" should be emancipated so that the law can run its course and put them in the trick bag they've made for themselves.

14) Comment by lovemykids - 10/01/2013

Good point Traveler.

15) Comment by Traveler - 10/01/2013

I'm waiting for BESE and the State Department of Education to blame the public school teachers for this incident. After all, they blame the teachers for all the maladaptive behaviors that occur during the school day, so why not include in the new evaluation procedure ALL behaviors of students, no matter where those behaviors occur? To do so would make as much sense as the current new evaluation system. Keep in mind that the same teens involved in this incident were in school Monday morning----does anyone think their conduct was better, just because they were in a school building?

16) Comment by tradewinns - 09/01/2013

stating the police learned how to respond to future such events show you are not expecting anything to be done to correct the situation. the mall should sue the parents that their video can id as being involved with the disturbance. that will get the adults(?) attention at least and keep the majority of kids, who parents care, out of the mall or improve the kids behavior. the cost of the legal action may not exceed the cost of this and the next "event" which stops current stores from making money. the mall's owners nor their vendors are not in business to give kids somewhere comfortable to hang out. they are there to make money. if they ca not make money at the MOL, they may relocate leaving open stores and the beginning of blight. MOL's owners may want to think of that when considering legal action and it's cost.

17) Comment by prbeav - 09/01/2013

I agree. For example, the discussion could produce new ordinances to address mischievous use of mass media.