UPDATE 2.23 at 3 p.m.: Police say the rumors about gangs at NorthPark are unfounded — read the whole statement here.
Every weekend my 13-year old daughter begs me to drop her off at “the mall”. Usually it leads to some sort of argument because, since she has no money to speak of, I feel sorry for all the business owners forced to contend with the mall rats. And I know that nothing good comes from kids left at the mall for six hours or so. But when she whines that ALL of her friends are there, and for hours on end, I believe her. I’ve seen NorthPark on a Saturday — there are droves of tweens and teens traveling in packs. (So much for the allure of NorthPark, on the weekends anyway).
Last night, she and her friends were all a twitter about an email circulating among Park Cities parents that made its way to the social media pages. In the email, a concerned parent states that she spoke to police at NorthPark over the weekend and that they told her that gang activity has “dramatically increased” at the center and is “escalating rapidly”.
The author of the email says she personally noticed large groups of “thugs” milling around in groups (I wonder how the author distinguishes the thugs from the aforementioned typical groups of teens, which she calls “our kids”, but I digress.) She says the police — off-duty officers hired by NorthPark — told her they are looking at enforcing a curfew after 9 p.m. and shuttering a DART stop near the mall. The author adds that the bus stop in question offers “a direct line from Oak Cliff”. I guessed that the email — which a few people have forwarded my way — could arguably be from a panicked parent spreading not-necessarily true, fear-motivated info.
But when I called NorthPark security this morning, a staffer told me that the security director plans to release a press statement soon — perhaps today — to address the information that is circulating. I also have a call into police. I’ll post the press release here when I get it.
Warning Far North Dallasites: In response to the rumors, the kids are plotting to meet at The Galleria next week instead of NorthPark.
