Teens Continue to Crowd Downtown on Weekend Nights

The police department started beefing up its presence in downtown South Orange on weekend nights this spring to address the recurring issue of teens congregating en masse in front of businesses, but a Maplewood Online thread is buzzing with new reports on the problem.

According to Police Chief James Chelel, no arrests were made in connection with downtown crowding this weekend, but officers surveilling the area on Saturday night were called away to investigate other reports and weren't available to disperse the groups of teenagers.

Village Trustee and Public Safety Committee Chair Michael Goldberg was downtown on Saturday between about 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., interested in watching first-hand from a park bench to gain perspective on the scope of the problem. He observed the greatest concentrations of teenagers in front of Cold Stone and Dunkin Donuts, and in Spiotta Park. In some cases, they were blocking the sidewalk and using profanity, and not many appeared to be eating ice cream.

"They appeared to just be hanging out, and as a result, it could very well discourage other people to come downtown and patronize the businesses," said Goldberg, who noted that the police department had agreed last spring to dedicate one or two officers on overtime to be present downtown on weekend nights after reports of teenage crowds had increased over the past year.

Ultimately, police arrived to disperse the crowd, Goldberg said, and he was told by an officer that the greater part walked up South Orange Avenue to catch buses. "[Police] do a great job dispersing the crowd in an orderly manner, and I imagine they're going to continue to do so," he said.