Flash Mobs Get Ugly
We’ve all seen those cute YouTube videos of flash mobs: groups that use texting, tweeting and other social media to organize group performances in public places (usually dances). The accompanying video is an example. According to the Chicago Sun Times, criminals are now using the technology to organize dozens of young people for a slightly different purpose:
They get their marching orders and lists of items to steal via text message, swoop into stores on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile in groups, then grab as much loot as they can before scattering to the winds. . . .
[Chicago City Alderman] Brendan Reilly (42nd) described it as a “new brand of retail theft” that’s highly coordinated by adult criminals who recruit juveniles to do their dirty work.
“You have large groups of kids — 15, 20 at a time — running into a store all at once. They mull around for a few minutes, find the items on their lists and, when a code word is yelled or texted to them, they head for different exits, knowing retail security can’t catch everybody,” Reilly said.
Weird, eh? The full story is here.
