All Quiet at the Livingston Mall

It's possible that whoever made the Facebook page, “Hell Night at Livingston Mall” thought only the 1,000 or so invitees would know. Think again. Police are patrolling social media sites and Friday night they apparently quashed plans for a flash mob with a splash of force so mighty that one young woman talking on the phone was overheard saying, “There are so many police, they must think Obama is coming.”

Actually, they were just expecting teens. And lots of them. Mall management and police said they had in place if needed. And they did: A small army of law enforcement patrolling the mall and parking lots:  NJ Transit Justice Team, Essex County Rapid Deployment Team, Livingston Police, and Mobile Command Post – a virtual blue light special.

It’s possible there were more men in blue than shoppers.

The mall was quieter than normal for a Friday night and the opening ceremonies for the Essex County Education Association’s Pride in Education were canceled, reportedly because of the threat of the flash mob.

But in many ways it was business as usual. Artwork from schools throughout the county was displayed on the upper level as part of the Pride in Education Expo and children played in the indoor playground – but on this Friday night, under the watchful eyes of a half-dozen of Livingston’s finest.

Parents in Livingston and neighboring communities banded through their own social media contacts to keep their teenage children away from the mall and off the Facebook site promoting the “invasion.” The page was removed and the event called off on Thursday night. Still, law enforcement agencies patrolling Facebook took the threat seriously, particularly in light of recent flash mobs in South Orange and Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth.

Around 9 p.m. the orders came to close down the Command Post, police relieved that the flash mob turned out to be just a flash in the pan.