Other cities also struggle with teen takeovers. What can Chicago learn from them?
<p>Like Chicago and many other American cities, Baltimore has been grappling with teen takeovers becoming violent.</p><p>In the summer of 2023, city leaders faced mounting pressure after repeated teen gatherings downtown led to fights, assaults and other disorder around the Inner Harbor, while a mass shooting at Baltimore’s annual Brooklyn Day celebration that left two people dead and 28 others wounded intensified concerns about keeping young people safe during the summer.</p><p>City officials brainstormed, and came up with a plan that included relying on violence interruption teams comprising school staffers and volunteers from community groups to patrol downtown, and limiting police interaction with teens. The result?</p><p>“We saw a notable decrease in violence and crime in and around our downtown and inner harbor in the months that we have staff out there,” says Stefanie Mavronis, director of the Baltimore mayor’s office of neighborhood safety and engagement.</p><p>By the end of summer of 2023, youth-involved homicides dropped by 83% compared to the prior summer, according to Baltimore city data.</p><p>As Chicago struggles to find ways to rein in teen gatherings that become chaotic and violent, it can look to places like Baltimore for innovative approaches.
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<p>Like Chicago and many other American cities, Baltimore has been grappling with teen takeovers becoming violent.</p><p>In the summer of 2023, city leaders faced mounting pressure after repeated teen gatherings downtown led to fights, assaults and other disorder around the Inner Harbor, while a mass shooting at Baltimore’s annual Brooklyn Day celebration that left two people dead and 28 others wounded intensified concerns about keeping young people safe during the summer.</p><p>City officials brainstormed, and came up with a plan that included relying on violence interruption teams comprising school staffers and volunteers from community groups to patrol downtown, and limiting police interaction with teens. The result?</p><p>“We saw a notable decrease in violence and crime in and around our downtown and inner harbor in the months that we have staff out there,” says Stefanie Mavronis, director of the Baltimore mayor’s office of neighborhood safety and engagement.</p><p>By the end of summer of 2023, youth-involved homicides dropped by 83% compared to the prior summer, according to Baltimore city data.</p><p>As Chicago struggles to find ways to rein in teen gatherings that become chaotic and violent, it can look to places like Baltimore for innovative approaches. Experts say a strategy that broadens summer activity choices and job opportunities can be far more effective than an over-reliance on law enforcement and punitive action.</p><p>At the heart of the challenge that teen takeovers pose is the balance between creating for teens living in crime-ravaged neighborhoods safe spaces to get together, while ensuring so-called “teen trends” that become violent don’t cast a pall on downtown commerce and tourism.</p><p>“Socially disadvantaged kids live in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty. I’ve interviewed them,” says Sara Thomas, a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University.
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- <p>Like Chicago and many other American cities, Baltimore has been grappling with teen takeovers becoming violent.</p><p>In the summer of 2023, city leaders faced mounting pressure after repeated teen gatherings downtown led to fights, assaults and other disorder around the Inner Harbor, while a mass shooting at Baltimore’s annual Brooklyn Day celebration that left two people dead and 28 others wounded intensified concerns about keeping young people safe during the summer.</p><p>City officials brainstormed, and came up with a plan that included relying on violence interruption teams comprising school staffers and volunteers from community groups to patrol downtown, and limiting police interaction with teens. The result?</p><p>“We saw a notable decrease in violence and crime in and around our downtown and inner harbor in the months that we have staff out there,” says Stefanie Mavronis, director of the Baltimore mayor’s office of neighborhood safety and engagement.</p><p>By the end of summer of 2023, youth-involved homicides dropped by 83% compared to the prior summer, according to Baltimore city data.</p><p>As Chicago struggles to find ways to rein in teen gatherings that become chaotic and violent, it can look to places like Baltimore for innovative approaches.
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Other cities also struggle with teen takeovers. What can Chicago learn from them?
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