Those who claim crime is not a problem at the few remaining malls in Montgomery County were dealt a blow of reality today, as Westfield announced it will implement a restrictive 3:00 PM curfew for unaccompanied minors at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda and Wheaton Plaza starting September 28. Once in effect, the new policy will require any mall patron under 18 to be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult after 3:00 PM, seven days a week. Those not in compliance will be escorted from the premises by security or Montgomery County police. Supervising adults may be asked for identification with a valid I.D.
Westfield says the hours and specifics of the new policy can be changed at any time, and that it may adjust the hours of enforcement during the holiday shopping season. It also says that supervising adults will be held responsible for the behavior and actions of the juveniles under their supervision, suggesting legal liability potential for the type of assaults and shoplifting incidents that have been taking place at the property in recent years.
This curfew sadly punishes the majority of minors who lawfully engage in the All-American tradition of hanging out at the mall. It will certainly cost mall tenants financially. That dovetails with another disappointing trend: Massive international corporations like Westfield and Giant parent Ahold declining to publicly condemn pro-criminal elected officials, and put their considerable financial resources toward electing alternative leaders, and instead implementing policies that punish all customers, such as locking up items or crippling self-checkouts. Montgomery County and Maryland's weak juvenile crime policies - and weak willed business responses - seem to put criminals in charge of our community, rather than holding them accountable. The new curfew policy was first reported by The MoCo Show.
58 comments:
That last paragraph is a real HOOT! Way to go Einstein, first thing, you can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you stop all juveniles or none. Your method is like Spot Zoning, not equal. Although I'm seeing the ulterior, klandestine motive you're pushing. Westfield is simply practicing what works in a neighboring jurisdiction, to protect their investments.
If you have other ideas for solving a problem that is not germain to MoCo, perhaps you should tell us what you really think.
What's "a real hoot" about a weak juvenile justice system that isn't deterring criminal activity? Ask the business people who are losing money, or the victims who go to the emergency room after being assaulted how hilarious it is.
“That dovetails with another disappointing trend: Massive international corporations like Westfield and Giant parent Ahold declining to publicly condemn pro-criminal elected officials, and put their considerable financial resources toward electing alternative leaders.”
I, for one, welcome our international corporate overlords. Robert has put his finger on what’s been missing from the equation: the lack of foreign corporate money funneling into local MoCo politics, to bring into office politicians more pliable and supine to the business interests of *offshore* patrons. It’s like a more sophisticated corporate cousin of local property developers installing their hand-picked Council courtiers, only the [illegal] donations are tidy, Gouda-scented Euros, not plaster-dusty, hand-me-down Benjamins.
Heckofajob, Robert.
Shouldn't it just be very wrong that we even *have* to do this? We can't even discuss the denominator.
Why, Johnny McJustice must be livid by now.
Why didn't they do this before opening a police station in the mall that did nothing, seemingly, to curb the misbehavior? The policy is certainly worth trying but it'll come down to enforcement. Shane it's come to this. .
I remember people commenting here to stop reporting the steady flow of assaults at Montgomery Mall because they were likely just family disputes. Guess not!
This is going to crush businesses in the food court and Starbucks. Probably won't have a ton of impact on the revenues of the other stores but they will likely lose more than they gain. The only time I ever go to the mall is to take my teenage daughter and her friends, they go off on their own while I wonder and sometimes buy something. If we have to stay together it will be off their list of places to go hang out. I give this 3 months max before it's gone.
3pm? Seems stupid and knee jerk. My guess is they go to Tyson's. Democrats.
Oh my, just wait until the Montgomery Mall Purple Line Station opens next year!
Robert thinks that global corporations care about who’s running for county executive lmao
Fascinating attempt to kill off their own business. Surely teens make up a large percentage of their customer base. Yes, teens are somewhat more likely to do something dumb/impulsive/criminal, but this is about as logical as a bar banning those over 21 just because that's the population that sometimes causes trouble.
All this could be solved with a few ICE trucks parked at the Malls... especially the Wheaton one.
This is a great way to force away the 99% of law-abiding teens and encourage the 1% of troublemakers to come test how fast security can run. Smart thinking, Westfield.
This is purely a result of lax enforcement of laws already on the books. I'll bet most liberals who vote for people like McCarthy don't raise their children this way, although looking at a few of the leftist posters here and its obvious they've never been told no.
6:53am AMC theaters will also be impacted. Teens will be banned from all evening showtimes unless with a parent
Are they afraid to just arrest the ones causing problems (including adults) and leave everyone else alone?
Incredibly stupid policy that will only hurt revenue and shut down even more third places for young people. And they say they can stop and demands papers of anyone they see walking with minors? Dystopian garbage.
@10:19 really went mask off with this comment, huh?
You think that the minors who can’t drive will find a way to go all the way to Tyson’s? And the minors who can will endure the after work traffic? Get real. They’ll go to somewhere closer like Silver Spring or find somewhere else to hang out.
At least on weekdays, shouldn't most kids be in school until around 3 PM? Just wondering ...
By the time they get there it will be closed!
How so? Will they be taking a shuttle bus?
What vote? He is running again unopposed for the sixth term!
This decision is terrible because you punish all teenagers because of a few bad apples. I like to see the energy and enthusiasm of teenagers. Obviously, this artificial curfew will impact the food court and stores. The leases at Montgomery Mall are very expensive, and I would not be surprised if more stores and food places close at Montgomery Mall.
@1:20 PM: Your boos mean nothing. I've seen what makes you cheer.
Amazing - police station in the mall and foot patrols. And they are now effectively banning teenagers from the mall (3pm is an effectively a ban).
What's next? Home Depot banning contractors?
This story is gaining national attention and is currently running on foxbusiness.com. There's no link to share it here but I thought this snippet was interesting:
Security officers will enforce the policy through ID checks, and anyone under 18 without an accompanying adult will be required to leave the property, FOX 5 reported.
These uncontrolled yoots are thd reason we can't enjoy nice things. Its them. Admit it.
4:28, its not all of them, but its always them! Most are probably not even from around here
If you think people over 18 don't steal and don't get in fights then you're exceptionally naive. Westfield's welcome to run their malls into the ground as far as I care, but I would think if they have the manpower to check IDs at entrances then they should have the manpower to stop a teenage shoplifter at the exits. My guess is this is pure theatrics and the policy will be reversed in the coming days/weeks/months. Maybe MoCo offers to work with them to upgrade their security cameras or something.
What is the logic of this being only after 3pm?
I doubt this will have much financial impact on the mall, other than the positive one of stopping some of them from stealing or breaking stuff. The most they would have is something at Starbucks or something at the food court, which does not keep these malls afloat
Go back to Queens Archie.
Must be a slow news period for them to run this, it's not a new practice, just look at The Mall of Columbia.
12:42 - For use who cannot interpret your covert signals, please define "the ones", since you have combined adults and youth in one.
How many people under 18 would you expect to find in a mall before 3pm? Learning?
If a Democratic nominee is running unopposed in the general election, that is the Republicans’ problem.
8:56am I'm not so sure about that. many of the mall retailers are focused on the teen market: JD sports, snipes, Urban outfitters, American eagle, pacsun, garage, Hollister, GameStop, kickz, the list goes on.
Stores have signs now for homecoming dresses at the mall.
Hmmm, 3 pm seems a bit early. Maybe mall mgmt sees something we don't? BTW "school hours' don't really mean much anymore with so much truancy etc.
@7:13 and there’s that dogwhistle. You’re not fooling anyone.
@4:34 a very apt rebuttal to the whining of conservatives, I’ve used it many times.
Are all the folks complaining here or otherwise criticizing this new policy Montgomery Mall shoppers? Must not be. Here's a question. What would you have Westfield do about the ever frequent cases of assault and worse that occur at both of these properties with Wheaton being the more dangerous of the two? The police aren't helping that much, clearly. The parents? Of course they're nowhere to be found in terms of actual parenting. Does Westfield want teenagers to hang out at their full-scale malls? Of course they do; their money is the same green color as ours is. But when bad apples spoil the bunch, you have to arrive at zero tolerance. It's a tough reality. Never remember anything to this extent at Montgomery Mall before. Ever.
Montgomery Mall shopper here. Contrary to the fear mongering on this blog, there is no “ever frequent” violence at the mall. This is a stupid policy enacted by NIMBY’s.
12:44 Great point. How are shopping centers supposed to handle rowdy youth who
make a mess, shop lift or worse and make everyone else's experience unpleasant.
The topic took the place of the former "Hot Topic."
Education is lost on 7:29 who thinks they've made a joke and laughed many times. Like a child, but sad & pathetic.
9:05 - Executive. At least they're trying to do something. And by the way, it's their mall. Don't like it, don't have your teenagers hang out there. Period.
@1:39 your boos mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer.
Karen, 7:26, has no idea what she's saying nor any credibility. When you scream racism constantly, it dilutes the meaning of the word, especially when there is zero basis in fact. It's shameful what liberals in this country have done to minorities, now making the case that they are unable to get ID to vote. As a person of color, people like 7:26 proport to spare us from "indignity" by trying to cut off the conversation rather than having the discussion. One thing for sure is that they have no intention of making minority lives better because their results say different.
This curfew policy by Montgomery Mall will encourage teenagers to stay home and watch YouTube and other social media platforms. It is sad that our society doesn't provide many places where teenagers can socialize. No wonder that many teenagers feel lonely, and some explode in anger.
What none of you guys get. As someone who works in this mall. Montgomery deals with more shoplifting than other stores/malls in my district. We have always had a problem with theft, and most likely it was from teens. They frequently walk in, create a mess, tank our conversion rates & metrics, and most importantly. DON'T BUY Anything. They are absolutely disrespectful. On the days when teens aren't at the mall, I've found it easier for us to hit our sales goals and get good traffic.
It's sad that McCarthy won't do his job but prosecutes in the name of equity. Like children who were never told no, consequences teach a valuable lesson that liberals do not.
That's pretty funny
@6:23 ouch, hit a nerve, did I? You’re not fooling anyone.
@12:30 Not really as we know the left are the true racists and here you are waving that flag. Sad really
@11:17 that nerve is in worse shape than I thought 😔
@5:45 real projection.
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