LAPD scrambles to stay ahead of flash mobs

LAPD, along with other law enforcement agencies, have been scrambling in recent months to deal with the phenomenon in which a group of strangers spontaneously gather at a public location for some sort of group activity — sometimes a less-than-legal one — after seeing messages through social networking sites.

"It's one of those things that as we move into the era of social media, dealing with flash mobs is one of those things we have to be prepared for," said LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith. "It's tough."

In recent months, wayward participants have soured the gatherings or have even gone as far as using social networks to plan violence and other criminal activities.

"Unfortunately, like anything else that's good, there always seems to be somebody who morphs that into something not good," said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "The people who initiated the thing were well-meaning and well-intentioned, but it gets hijacked. And then it turns ugly."

In Las Vegas, about 20 teens coordinated a "flash rob" and robbed a convenience store, taking about 600 items. In Philadelphia, 2,000 teens fought in the streets, vandalized cars and ran through a shopping mall. And in the four-day long London riots, youths used the text-messaging service Blackberry Messenger to coordinate looting and arson.

With police still trying to catch up to the new mutation spawned from Internet technology, those looking to hijack flash mobs or organize crime through social networks may have a technological advantage — for now.

"We are trying to monitor those the best we can," Smith added. "But it's not too hard for somebody to put out a tweet without us knowing about it. We can't be Big Brother everywhere, all the time."

"We're trying as hard as we can to not impede on people's rights to gather and have fun," Parker said. "The challenge is at what point does it become a hazard for the safety of people that don't want to participate and frankly, the people that do want to participate?"

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