While stories of criminal flash mobs continue to crop up in the U.S. and abroad, the latest such story, which took place in the wee hours of the morning Saturday at a Washington, D.C. area 7-Eleven is a clear reminder of how quickly these events occur and how helpless store employees are when faced with multiple offender crimes. The video below shows surveillance tape of the incident as 25-35 young people rush the store, grabbing candy, sodas and other items from shelves and then walk out without paying –many smiling and laughing.
Montgomery County police said this group “clearly had a plan” and that it seemed it was an “orchestrated event.”
In this case, the store clerk did not attempt to apprehend the suspects, as he was clearly outnumbered – a suggestion that is outlined in NRF’s recently issued Multiple Offender Crimes white paper. Retailers may want to revisit these “flash mob” guidelines as this trend grows in popularity.
While the thought of a flash mob entering your store may be cause for alarm (and all the more reason to be prepared), the good news is that police and city officials are taking action in cities where these acts of theft and sometimes violence are occurring. Flash mob attacks in Philadelphia last week led to a city-wide curfew for minors after two people were attacked. The city also increased patrols in Center City where two men were robbed and beaten.
In response to complaints about the curfew, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, “We’re as serious as a heart attack about this. We’re not playing around.”
11 Comments
This is terrible, and I hope this video helps the bulk of these hooligans get caught. However, I feel like the term “flash mob” is a misnomer and is only being used in this context for sensationalistic headlines, at least in the case of this specific video. I worry that if “flash mob” starts to be used widely in this context without distinguishing this type of “criminal flash mob” from a more traditional flash mob, flash mobs in general will develop a bad reputation and will no longer be welcome in many public places. And with flash mobs like this, can we really say we want that to happen? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhYyAa0VnyY
Previously, flash mobs are most often recognized as a large group of people breaking out into dance or freezing in unusual positions with a focus on theatricality, entertainment, or spreading an important message. Let’s not let these criminal acts ruin a good thing. :)
It’s interesting to me that the link to NRF’s “flash mob guidelines” in this post actually links to its new white paper on “Multiple Offender Crimes.” To me, this is a much more appropriate phrase because it distinguishes the difference between an actual flash mob and what is going on in these situations. The abstract even begins saying, “Multiple offender crimes aren’t your typical flash mob.” And in the full white paper, NRF states that “Multiple offender crimes tend to involve groups or gangs of juveniles who already know each other, which does not earn them the term ‘flash mob.’” What happened at this Washington D.C. 7-11 is clearly a Multiple Offender Crime.
I might be splitting hairs here, and I realize the definition of “flash mob” might be broader than I interpret, but that’s how I feel about it. I encourage journalists, retailers, and NRF alike to stop using the misnomer “flash mob” when reporting on these awful multiple offender crimes.
Hi Valerie – you’re absolutely right. NRF and the greater retail industry have made a conscious effort to refer to these groups as “criminal flash mobs” and/or “multiple offender criminals.” In fact, when we were writing our guidelines we had a long conversation about how these groups are very different than the more entertaining and spontaneous flash mobs who pop up in public places. Unfortunately, the media has been using the phrase “flash mobs” widely to reference both groups – which we agree is a problem.
In the case of this blog post, we forgot the word “criminal” in the headline, which may be the cause for concern and confusion. I hope you don’t mind that I updated the blog post headline to reflect that mistake. Thanks for your comment.
These acts will continue – and expand exponentially – until force is used to stop them. How about store owners & operators with shotguns?
The girl at 51 seconds was at least curteous enough to pick up those bags of chips.
Whoever assigned the term “mob” to any group of people engaged in benign activity is the real culprit.
The word mob, by its definition, carries a strong pejorative connotation. It is even negative in its most benign implication when defined as a “crowd” according to a traditional “British” usage.
We have a full lexicon of well defined terms available to us as English speaking people. If we want to be understood and avoid confusion we should adhere to the truth of these things. The wrongheaded naming of benign gatherings as “flash mobs” was meant to become a brief, catchy slogan. Yet, millions of creative people have invented such slogans without being limited by the true definitions of things. We seem to have become dumbed down enough to cast away discrimination and perpetuate that which should never have been condoned in the first place.
Ellen, thanks so much for your response, and I’m encouraged that we’re seeing eye to eye on this!
Mark, I can certainly see your point about the original naming not being ideal, either. In this case, I only really have a problem with the lexicon because of the laws that might follow on as a result of it when people truly are doing harmless stuff that often carries a positive message. But yeah, we give stupid/improper names to stuff all the time. :)
The term ‘Flash Mob’ refers to the sudden onset of an assembly resulting from the synchronized coordination of the planning, wether the purpose is one of theatrics, charity, politics or larceny… whatever. I think it’s a bit of an overreaction to confer some (any) level of spirituality to a mere term. Moreover, I have a greater concern with what amounts to questionable and selective outrage over what amounts to nothing more than time-honored teenage pranks, the likes of which (in one version or another) occur all year, every year, all over the country, since… well, since there’ve been teens.
Inappropriate adjectives like “chilling”, and “awful multiple offender crimes” seem well over-the-top. These were kid acting like large groups of kids sometimes do, behave badly. I know, I commonly see senseless acts by them following every high school football rally, game or prom night, regardless of social-economic considerations.
Looking at video isn’t the same as observing or examining it. Anyone searching for depth would conclude that these aren’t common criminals, most of whom appear extremely embarrassed by what they’ve allowed themselves to be ‘talked’ into. And if not for mob influence (which probalby best explains the voluminous ‘similar’ national commentary on this story) would be somewhere else having fun.
I suspect if any one of these kids was asked later why they particpated, the common reply (as with most teens) would inlcude at least three words strung together in typical fashion, “…just being stupid.”
Gene-William – Thank you for the comment. However, I would respectfully disagree about simply chalking this up to youthful behavior. These are disturbing images and criminal behavior regardless of age. A kid stealing a pack of bubble gum is a far cry from this type of behavior. (If this was one of your stores with a similar set of circumstances, I would image company executives and store employees would call for an investigation and want to press charges.)
An employee, a customer or even one of the offenders could have easily been injured – and have been, in many other cases. Based on recent incidents in Philadelphia or London, we have seen some vicious behavior and people seriously beaten just for confronting one of these mobs. Beyond the safety concerns, factor in the merchandise losses, damage to store property and negative publicity from the media.
In our paper (www.nrf.com/multipleoffendercrimes), we are very clear about the term Multiple Offender Crime and the tactic of assembling using flash mob tactics. I agree the term flash mob is overused, however police reported the 7-11, Victoria Secret, Sears and other incidents criminal flash mobs, referencing the Internet.
I guess our request is simple… If the kids want to “just be stupid,” please keep them at home.
The comment made that the police could not take action due to the poor quality images is really interesting. We work with megapixel camera manufacturers and provide a small network video recorder system that would have solved this.
In a case like this, where the criminals are looking straight at the camera, there is absolutely no reason, given today’s excellent camera technology, that you could not get extremely clear face images that would allow absolute certain identification and conviction.
7-11 needs to make the small investment in contemporary surveillance equipment and then advertise the fact that they have it. Combine this with electronic signage that would allow the store to advertise and post images of criminals raiding their store, with a reward system in place, and you would have a great deterrent.
This is really a sad situation.
We were hit by a gang like this. We got the primary people and they rolled on the others with the help of Law Enforcement and the Court. They hit us for $3500.00 but we recovered most of that.
I agree with John Keller. But I have to add that this is not just happening in a commercial environment. A group did this in my neighborhood not too long ago. I had to take extra precautions to protect my family. Sad to say, but I don’t feel so safe anymore – not even in my home.
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