DETROIT – Youth mentor Toson Knight was out downtown Friday evening as hundreds of young people gathered. He was captured on video stepping in to break up a fight.
“Pandemonium. You see a lot of kids running, being physical, fighting, things like that,” Knight said.
Nearby, dozens of teens also packed into the store Culture. Serena Allen, a content creator, said she was initially concerned about what might happen as the crowd grew.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want no drama. I don’t know if y’all are about to fight.’ They were like, ‘No, no, we’re all good. We all know each other from school,’” Allen said.
In response to the so-called teen takeovers downtown, the store’s owner said he’s now looking for ways to give young people a place to have fun and stay out of trouble.
“We encourage people, instead of having so much negative stuff to say, to give them something positive to do. Let’s create some programs,” said Juanzel Smith, a co-owner of Culture.
Detroit police have stepped up patrols in response to recent teen gatherings downtown, where multiple fights have broken out. Police said they are developing a crowd control strategy, and Mayor Mary Sheffield said the city is working on a broader plan to keep the gatherings from becoming a regular occurrence.
“We are all coming together, community, law enforcement, all stakeholders, to make sure we are creating safe spaces for our young people, that we have a level of parental responsibility enforcing our curfew, but also, more of all, a holistic plan and comprehensive plan,” said Sheffield.
Knight said he wants to continue to be part of the solution by working directly with young people.
“You should have a conversation with those young people. Say, ‘Hey, what is it that you all would like to see? What do you want to do?’” he said.
Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti also addressed the importance of safe spaces for students.
“We want students to be outside, get out of their homes. We want them to come together. We want them to be safe,” Vitti said.
Police again pointed to Detroit’s curfew rules and parental responsibility. Without an adult present, the curfew is 10 p.m. for 15-year-olds and under, and 11 p.m. for teens ages 16 and 17.