Kids Must Be Escorted By An Adult At The Mall In Columbia, Show ID For Admission

COLUMBIA, MD — Kids wanting to hang out at The Mall in Columbia must be escorted by an adult starting March 31.

Anyone younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult age 21 or older in order to be at the mall after 4 p.m. The policy includes the entire mall property, including parking lots and sidewalks. One adult can supervise up to four youths and everyone must remain together at all times.

“After many discussions and careful consideration, we’ve determined that implementing a formal curfew program is necessary to help maintain a safe environment for our shopping center community,” Mary Williams, senior general manager of The Mall in Columbia, told WMAR. “Implementing a PGR program is not something we’ve entered lightly and I want to be clear that everyone is still welcome at all times, but on weekends we now require that families shop together.”

Security officers will be stationed at mall entrances after 4 p.m. to check visitor IDs. Visitors who can't show ID proving their age will be told to leave unless accompanied by an adult. Acceptable IDs include a state issued driver’s license or ID card, a military or school ID card, or a valid passport. Each is required to be tamper-proof with a photograph and date of birth.

Those who are 18 can obtain a wristband so other security officers inside the mall don't have to ask for ID again.

The superintendent of the Howard County Public School System and the county executive have spoken out about the issues with unsupervised teenagers acting unruly at The Mall in Columbia.

Howard County police officers arrested individuals from a large group of "disorderly teens" last month. Mall workers and shoppers both filed complaints with mall management in November 2022 after seeing a group of 20 to 30 teens engage in a brawl, fire Orbeez guns that shoot polymer gel beads at people and interfere with shoppers accessing stores by blocking entrances.

The incidents typically have been happening on weekends and after school.

The Mall in Columbia requested additional police patrols from the Howard County Police Department, Patch reported previously. A proposed youth escort policy will be rolled out, Fox 5 reported. A parent guidance program would require anyone age 17 and younger to have an adult present who is at least 21 years old. Additional details have not been shared yet about the new program.

HCPSS Superintendent Michael Martirano and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a joint statement that the occurrences are concerning and involved youth age 10 to 18 engaging in "disruptive or dangerous behavior."

"This includes stampedes throughout the mall, physical altercations and destroying mall property and merchandise. The events have primarily occurred on Saturday evenings and these young people have not been accompanied by a responsible adult," they said.

Brookfield Properties confirmed to Fox 5 that they already implemented a juvenile curfew policy at the Towson Town Center in Maryland, which requires teens 17 years old and younger to be escorted by a parent or supervising adult on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to close.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks implemented a teen curfew in September 2022 after police investigated 24 homicides that happened in August 2022. The curfew began Sept. 9 after a baby was shot, four people were killed and several others injured Labor Day weekend.

The curfew, which targeted youth age 16 years and younger, originally was set for 30 days and barred teens from being without parental supervision in public from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Sunday through Thursday and between 11:59 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Alsobrooks ended up extended the teen curfew through the end of 2022. Crime dropped by 13 percent overall and 20 percent during curfew hours in the first month of the curfew, Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz said during an October news conference.