KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Police say that three adults in their late teens and one juvenile were arrested for disorderly conduct related charges this past weekend at the Country Club Plaza. A tweet from KCPD Chief Darryl Forte indicated increased law enforcement activity on the Plaza will follow.
150 juveniles had to be dispersed on the Plaza last night – unruly group involved in 3 fights Expect an increase in enforcement activity
— chiefforte (@ChiefForte) February 16, 2014
Sydnee Huppenthal works on the Plaza and expressed there have been safety concerns.
“There are a lot of problems with flash mobs and people are really worried about being down here and being safe,” she said.
Despite those concerns, Huppenthal is proud to work at an area she refers to as a landmark.
“People come to Kansas City to shop here and to eat here and to do those things so, I think it’s a big part of Kansas City. So they are going to have to make sure it is safe,” she said.
Huppenthal’s store closes at 6 p.m., so she hasn’t encountered direct problems with those mobs. However, another retailer that would not go on camera said she used to be open until 9 p.m. That retailer is now following the lead of others by closing at 6 p.m. because she said during those later hours, “troublemakers” came around.
The trouble isn’t confined to the area shops and restaurants. West Plaza resident Joe Padilla has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years and dealt with trouble bleeding into his neighborhood.
“We have vandalism all over the place,” Padilla said.
Padilla said he had nine flower pots that used to sit around his fence that became targets for vandals.
“I had them all over here, you know, fresh flowers and everything. Apparently they didn’t like them, if they can’t steal them, they break them,” Padilla said.
But what really got the Marine veteran steamed was when he said kids from the Plaza ripped his American flag from his house.
“They took my flag off and they threw it in the gutter right here. I said I am not going to put up with that,” Padilla said. “If I ever caught these kids, I’m going to show them something. If you people don’t do something about, I will.”
Chief Forte tweeted on Monday that he is working on a Plaza plan, but will not reveal it until later this week. Some have suggested the 9 p.m. curfew that runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day be instituted year-round. FOX 4 will continue to follow developments to see what Chief Forte has in store and whether or not he heeds the curfew advice.
