My husband was about 13 years old, he recalled. He was hanging out with a crowd of miscreants. “There was a whole bunch of us.”
They were running around north suburban Glencoe, “kicking the hood ornaments off cars,” he told me. “And a little bit of shoplifting.”
He was thinking back to that time because we were talking about the news of a crowd of young people that, on a recent Sunday night in the South Loop, wreaked havoc and got busted by the police.
Back in the day, my hubby and his buddies got caught too. The local police arrested them, and they were held at the station until their parents picked them up, he said. They were not formally charged, but for a month, the police ordered them downtown every weekend. “We had to sweep the city garage and wash all the police cars.”
“It stopped me from shoplifting. When you feel retribution for something you did, you realize there are consequences for stuff,” he said.
More Top Picks Why Fluorescent Lights Give Me A Headache
There are differences, of course. My hubby and his pals are white. His consequences came more than a half-century ago. My husband and his buddies were spared a record. Still, the life lesson must be learned.
On a recent Sunday night, a huge crowd of young people busted into a 7-Eleven near South Canal Street and West Roosevelt Road, smashing store displays, looting and stealing. Some were fighting in the street and breaking windows, and others jumping on cars, according to news reports. About 40 were arrested.
It could have been worse. Young people, especially those of color, have been mistreated by the cops in the past. This time, the police used restraint, Mayor Brandon Johnson said a few days later at a City Hall news conference.
“I believe that (the police) attempted to engage with our young people, with community partners, giving as much warning as they possibly could. Unfortunately, arrests were made, and unfortunately, some damage was caused. (But) the level of sensitivity and patience that our officers expressed, I’m appreciative of that. That is constitutional. That is a system of care.”
However, these out-of-control gatherings continue to be a big problem for the mayor and his city.
“The teen mobs is something that seriously needs to be taken seriously, and I would love to talk to him about it,” Johnathan Nowak, owner of the 7-Eleven, told WLS-Ch. 7 in the wake of the melee. “Because I don’t think there’s nothing being done yet.”
A reporter asked Johnson a question about the “mob.” Johnson took issue with the term.
“That’s not appropriate. We’re not talking about mob actions,” Johnson said. “We have to be careful when we use language to describe certain behavior. There’s a history in this city, and, I mean, to refer to children as like baby Al Capones, is not appropriate.”
That incident had nothing to do with Scarface and his notorious gangster rampage of the Prohibition era. It’s not about cigar-chomping gangsters of old; it’s about the dangerous behavior of new. Those young people were out of line, unruly, destructive, even violent.
I commend the police for their handling of the incident. If 40 youths had to be arrested, they were probably engaged in criminal activity. And unfortunately, as urban youths of color, they may face a much harsher punishment than my husband did and may end up with criminal records.
Our newly minted mayor says things are being done to address the challenge. He touts his administration’s “unique approach.”
“You know, many people expect us to treat people undignified. My administration is different.”
This is the second time that Johnson has shown reluctance to come down hard on these bad actors. Yes, we should not demonize young people who gather downtown for fun. But we cannot coddle them either.
Johnson said his administration is working closely with community groups and civic leaders to find alternatives to keep young people safe and on the right track. Those same players, starting with the mayor, should highlight those 40 arrests. Put that information out on the social media channels the kids follow. Plaster it on billboards.
Send a message to those kids, and their parents. Act up? You will be arrested and punished. Every time we make excuses for this bad behavior, we are asking, even begging, for trouble. Young people watch. They listen. They are always testing boundaries.
So let them know: You act out, you will get arrested, there will be consequences. Ones the city kids can least afford.
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at [email protected].
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].
More Top Picks Sewing Machines