Teen takeovers have become a growing problem in major cities across the United States, especially blue cities in deep blue states and areas. More often than not, they end up devolving into riots, and there’s no real sign of them slowing down.
In Chicago, a teen takeover over Memorial Day weekend resulted in multiple arrests and several people being shot, prompting the city council to consider an accountability ordinance. In Washington, D.C., a teen takeover led to a viral video of an all-out brawl in a restaurant, with participants attacking each other with chairs and even hurling them across the room.
Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation, says this is a result of repeated failures to prosecute these juvenile delinquents. “The one area of criminal justice that’s primarily under local authority is juvenile justice. Local leaders are refusing to confront this problem,” he explained.
He went on to point out that these crimes not being prosecuted leads to higher numbers of severe crimes farther down the line. “You’re having assaults, robberies, very serious instances of vandalism, and businesses being robbed. These are serious crimes,” he said.
We’ve even started to see cases of this here in Texas. In Houston, the Katy Mills mall has been forced to implement restrictions on when unsupervised teens enter the mall.