Yet Another "Takeover"

Farther south this time:

• Crowds prompted a large police response at a South Side beach after reports of plans for a teen takeover there on Monday night.

  Police are working to disperse groups of people at 57th Street Beach, which is near Hyde Park.

  The Office of Emergency Management and Communications said there is heavy traffic on northbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive at East 57th Drive. OEMC asked drivers to take an alternate route.

  This comes after the University of Chicago Police Department said it received information about a possible teen trend gathering at the beach planned for Monday at 6 p.m. UCPD said additional staff would be in the area.

They're publicizing these things on social media. CPD used to have a unit that monitored social media for EXACTLY these types of incidents. Of course, it is about as useful as that commercial regarding crime "monitors" if you don't have units available to do anything about it. Back in the day, we had SOS, TRU, MSF and a system for mobilizing tactical/gang teams citywide. Now? 

Did Conehead make it go away because it unfairly demonized the undemonizable?

How much effort would it take to set up a couple CFD trucks with spray nozzles to mist the crowds? Nothing illegal or forceful about a gentle rain shower and certainly no TRRs. Maybe hand out bars of soap, too. They'd go home if they were soaking wet.

Someone else suggested a fleet of thirty or forty tow trucks on standby. If you're taking their wheels, they're leaving the neighborhood. Curfew ordinances aren't working, but vehicle impounds might make a serious dent in the misbehavior, PLUS they couldn't run over five cops at a time.

The City Council is making the usual useless noises:

• Some Chicago City Council members are gearing up to take on parents of teens who get arrested during illegal takevovers past curfew.

  The proposal comes as the city reels from a takeover on the Near West Side that nearly turned deadly for a number of police officers Sunday morning.

  [2nd Ward Aldercreature Brian Hopkins] says he and City Council colleagues are drafting an ordinance that would give police the tools to go after parents of teenagers who take part in illegal gatherings.

  “All that combined sends a strong message that we are no longer going to tolerate this kind of activity. We need the mayor to step up and stand with us on it. Tough talk is fine, but that doesn't seem to change anything," he said.

Let's be real - no one is going to hold parent(s) accountable. If that was an option, it would have been done years ago. Taxpayers would be far better off with some uncomfortable soaking wet teens or a boatload of impounds that go before hearing officers who are told in no uncertain terms that their jobs rely on liability findings like they did back in the glory days of sound impounds.