Philadelphia mayor to curfew critics: Buy a watch

Curfew is taking on a whole new -- that is, more official -- meaning for teenagers and pre-teens in Philadelphia, where the mayor is combating marauding mobs of kids known as "flash mobs" by ordering anyone under 18 to be off the streets by 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights in problem-plagued areas of the city.


Blaming recent violence on a "relatively small number of complete knuckleheads," Mayor Michael Nutter told a news conference Monday that increased police patrols will round up minors caught outside after the curfew hours, and that parents will be called to pick up their kids. Parents could face fines of $500 if their children are picked up, or charges of child neglect if they don't fetch their children.


The 9 p.m. curfew affects Philadelphia's Center City and University City neighborhoods, which on recent weekends have been plagued by swarms of kids -- some as young as 11 -- responding to Twitter and text messages calling for mobs to converge. The resulting crowds often wreak havoc.


On Sunday, Nutter delivered an angry lecture from a church pulpit that hinted at the crackdown, which represents a step up from the city's existing curfew for minors. "If you want to act like an idiot -- move," Nutter said, directing his comments at troublemakers as well as parents who he said aren't keeping tabs on their youngsters.


On Friday, Police say that 50 minors were rounded up in Philly for violating the city's new curfew law of 9 p.m. The law was implemented in response to a series of violent flash mob attacks involving juveniles. Some of the parents and family members of the minors who were rounded up criticized the policy, saying that it was unfair to punish every teen when only a few were responsible for the violent attacks. Mayor Nutter stood firmly behind the policy however.
"I guess it was like 50 people out of a couple hundred thousand who apparently either didn't get the message or maybe for some reason didn't take it seriously," said Mayor Nutter. "We're as serious as a heart attack about this. We're not playing around."
16-year-old Jessica Faulkner is in full support of the curfew.
"Your kids should be inside the house after a certain time anyway so parents should know where their kids are at," said Jessica.
Despite the criticism, the Mayor insists that the curfew isn't going away anytime soon.