I’m a candidate for Cleveland Heights City Council and I had a booth for my campaign in the Coventry Village Street Festival on June 26th. From noon until about 5:00 pm it was a fabulous event. Fair attendees were having a great time, the vendors were busy, and I was having all the opportunity to greet voters that I could desire. There were teens among the crowd all day, black and white, but the teens were moving along with the rest of the crowd and it was all good. I saw no indication that a massive teen influx, as had occurred at the prior year’s fair and at other events more recently, was in the works.
Approaching five o’clock the dynamic changed completely. Toward five o-clock, more and more teens, now predominantly black, began to arrive. The numbers grew exponentially. Instead of walking along the teens were congregating on the street and sidewalk, their backs to the vendors, socializing with each other and using their phones. By five or so the crowd was so thick in front of my booth, and the booths nearby, that I could no longer interact with people who might be interested in my campaign. The teens did not behave as though they meant to break the law or cause trouble at that point, but the sheer quantity of stationary teens had effectively shut down the event. When I asked the teens to move away from my booth they generally complied, but the empty space was immediately taken up with newcomers.
My wife Phyllis and I stayed until the fair’s closing time of 6:00 pm, but by then there were signs of more serious trouble. A fight broke out nearby, with the teens rushing to form the predictable circle around the combatants. Then teens began running like a herd, many laughing and shouting. A few teens engaged in such conduct would not seem overly disruptive, but with the quantity involved the situation was unsettling and potentially dangerous.
We made several trips to carry our things to the car and by then it had become clear that the huge crowd of youngsters was reluctant or unwilling to disperse. Event organizers and police were struggling to clear the street to little avail. As has been reported, the crowd was not fully dispersed for several hours, incidents of property damage occurred in the area, and at least 15 arrests were made.
I have detailed my experience to make a few points about the Coventry incident. First, that the event was a success until the very end, continuing a great community tradition. Second, that the teen crowd was not a “gang” in the sense that many seem ready to assume. (The term flash “mob” is unfortunate in suggesting gang activity.) Third, however, the disruption of the street fair and the refusal of the crowd to disperse were very serious problems. The potential for serious injury and damage from these types of incidents is very real, especially since the Coventry episode confirmed that the phenomenon of teen flash mobs in our city was tending to grow larger with each repetition.
Turning to the expanded curfew passed by city council shortly after the Coventry incident, I am very glad that the council acted quickly, that the measure adopted was strong, and that the action was widely reported in the press. The most important task to accomplish was to send a clear message that teen flash mobs would not be tolerated in Cleveland Heights. The speed, scale, and notoriety of the new law are all helpful on that front. Also, the widespread attention garnered by the Coventry episode and the city’s response is very helpful to initiating a community-wide dialogue about the issue, which I believe is an absolutely essential complement to passing and enforcing the curfew. I am very pleased that the Heights Community Congress has convened a community forum for 7:00 pm on Wednesday at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Main Library on Lee Road, and that the program “Sound of Ideas” on WCPN 90.3 will devote its entire show to discussing the situation tomorrow (7/12) at 9:00 am. [UPDATE: Also, Cleveland Heights-based Open Doors Academy will host a youth-led discussion about teen flash mobs at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.]
I was alarmed, however, at the very broad scope of the initial version of the curfew, which seemed not only to seriously burden Cleveland Heights families with teenaged children but to raise significant constitutional issues. In addition, since the teens involved in the flash mobs are predominantly black, the extreme nature of the law as initially passed raised in some minds the question of whether the reaction to congregating white teens would have been as severe. I do not share that view, but the severity of the law as initially written definitely felt inconsistent with our city’s character as a welcoming and inclusive community. This is an area where competing considerations must be carefully balanced.
These are serious concerns and should be carefully considered. Fortunately, the exceptions incorporated into the curfew at a later date go a long way toward alleviating them. The law now allows more flexibility and greatly reduces the scope of activity restricted. However, I believe that the city must seek out additional input from citizens and be prepared to make further modifications to the law based on experience in the coming months and years.
It is important to note, incidentally, that the curfew law was not adopted solely in reaction to the events on Coventry that I witnessed. That was only the most recent in a series of troubling incidents, many occurring on Lee Road. In addition to groups of teens interfering with customer access to retail businesses and occasionally engaging in disruptive actions that are intimidating or harassing to outdoor diners and other patrons, there were much more serious incidents including a criminal assault perpetrated by one among a group of teens on a resident walking home from a restaurant with his spouse and friends.
Of course, the curfew ordinance is only one small piece of what needs to happen to respond effectively to the teen flash mob phenomenon and other disruptive behaviors. The majority of teens involved in the flash mobs are from outside our community, and our community is not the only one in our area to experience these incidents, so this is clearly a regional issue that requires broad cooperation among cities and participation by the county. This is why it is encouraging that Sheriff Robert Reid is seeking tips about flash mob activity to coordinate with local police. The onset of teen flash mob incidents shows that more safe activities for teens in appropriate locations are needed, not just in our community but in the region, so that teens have an acceptable alternative for gathering with each other. This is a major challenge which will require ideas and action from concerned citizens, non-profits organizations, and municipalities alike. And residents of affected communities, including ours, must have ample opportunity to talk about this important challenge. Parents and kids, residents and city officials, merchants and customers, white and black residents — open communication along all these dimensions are needed.
I am deeply saddened that the second Coventry Village Street Fair, which had been set for July 24th, was cancelled. That sends a very unfortunate and misleading signal. However, four weeks was very little time to implement big changes for the second fair, and such changes would have been necessary. So the cancellation should not come as a big surprise. Public safety is paramount. But let us hope and trust that with citizen engagement and continuing efforts to address this problem, the Coventry Village Street Fair can come back stronger and better next year. Then the final word will be that our community has risen to a difficult challenge and once again prevailed.
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