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Cities across America are bracing for a wave of social media-fueled “teen takeovers” this Fourth of July weekend, with police departments in several states taking preemptive steps to stop the chaos before it starts.
The so-called teen takeovers, some of which have been organized on social media, have erupted across the country and now threaten to interfere with Americans’ Fourth of July weekend. As the holiday weekend approaches, police departments across the country are taking steps to stop the chaos before it even starts.
In Falmouth, Massachusetts, police said they have increased staffing and are using drones to combat teen takeovers on beaches and stopping large gatherings before they become dangerous, according to Masslive.com.
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Lt. Ryan Hergt said in an interview with the outlet that the agency has taken steps to combat large gatherings, some by teens, after they struggled to contain them in past years.
In Ocean City, Maryland, police in June stopped a teen takeover that was advertised on social media as a “Late Night Beach Party Link Up.” Police learned about the event through the Baltimore Police Department, and arrested several of the alleged organizers before the teen takeover could even happen, according to WTOP.
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Some towns are going even further. In Greenville, North Carolina, the city’s mayor enacted a curfew ahead of the holiday weekend in response to threats of a teen takeover, according to The Reflector.
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“Greenville Mayor P.J. Connelly has established another temporary curfew for juveniles under the age of 18 in downtown Greenville to help ensure their safety,” a statement from the city reads.
The city dealt with a teen takeover on June 20 in which a large number of fights broke out in the downtown area, with social media posts threatening another similar event on June 27. As a result, a curfew was declared last weekend as well.
Past teen takeovers have proven the events have potential to become dangerous.
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In Georgia’s Tybee Island, an “unpermitted pop-up event” in April ended up with gunshots ringing out, which sent scores of teens running for their lives.
Margaret McLean, a former prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that law enforcement doesn’t need to wait for chaos to unfold.
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“It’s a big preventative measure that police are using. They’re monitoring the social media… arresting some people for rioting. If these organizers are worried that they may face criminal charges or they may get a criminal record or possibly even go to jail, they may step back and decide not to organize one of these events,” McLean said.
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She said teen takeovers are such a priority for police because of the potential for them to turn violent, fast.
“People can be trampled,” McLean said.
“What makes them so dangerous is fights can break out and somebody, some innocent bystander can get pushed down or hurt, or they can fall and hit their head and then die from a bad head wound,” she added.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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