Wednesday afternoon, members of the Penn community avoided the area near 40th and Market streets. They were told a “flash mob” of teenagers might occur at this location.
This “flash mob” didn’t end up taking place. Nonetheless, we appreciate the proactive efforts of the Division of Public Safety to keep people safe from what could have been a dangerous situation.
Notice of the possible event was relatively widespread. Whether they learned the news via the DPS website, a college house or student group or word of mouth, people were able to keep themselves out of what could have been harm’s way. Additionally, police presence in the area was on high to further ensure safety, with increased levels of Penn, Philadelphia, Drexel University and SEPTA police in the area.
The publicity and increased security was not necessarily the reason teenagers didn’t congregate near campus this week. But “flash mobs” have caused a lot of problems in other parts of Philadelphia lately. We would rather law enforcement take precautionary measures that later turn out to be unnecessary than have an incident occur without the proper policing in place. And the more people have to protect themselves from potential danger, the better.
We hope DPS continues to be proactive when there are possible threats — being reactionary could be harmful. If a similar situation happens in the future, we would like there to be a similar response.
