Two days after allegedly “hundreds” of young people were involved in a “fight” or “brawl” at Castleton Square Mall there’s anger among Indianapolis residents about the incident, but also confusion of what happened, what did Mall Security know and more importantly what did the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Know. Listeners on Afternoons with Amos expressed strong opinions about the Saturday evening incident. The first major incident at Castleton in three months. There were no arrests resulting for the incident which, according to IMPD spokesman Sgt. Kendale Adams, involved a few fights at the Mall just before 8pm last Saturday (January 3rd). Sgt. Adams, also said some of the participants left the food court area, walked to the front entrance of the mall and then continued fighting both inside and outside the AMC Castleton movie theater. A couple of hours after the incident, news media, quoting IMPD, said that police had advance warning through social media that there would be trouble at Castleton. However, IMPD’s Sgt. Adams said that information was incorrect. In talking with young people at the mall, police said people had “heard” on social media there would be trouble. But Sgt. Adams says that IMPD has received no copies of of information from social media like Facebook or Twitter that any threat was made. Listeners were strongly insisted that parents take responsibly for their childrens’ actions and that parents especially shouldn’t “drop kids” off to be unescorted at the mall. Several callers who were at Castleton Mall before and during the incident told Amos and listeners that there were large groups of young people congregating in front of stores or milling about. That’s surprising because security at Circle Centre, also owned by Simon, doesn’t allow congregating or standing around by groups of more than five or more young people. Last year, there were nearly no major incidents of violence or trouble at Circle Centre. Simon Property Group, which owns Castleton Mall created a so-called Parental Escort Policy when they owned the huge Mall of America in Minneapolis twenty years ago. That policy, which is still in effect, has been implemented at nearly 100 malls across the country. But Simon has never implemented the plan any at any of its other malls, until recently; at the Town Centre at Aurora Mall, owned by a Simon subsidiary called Washington Prime Group. A Parental Escort Policy, which Amos strongly advocated for during the program, requires that young people under 18 must be accompanied by an adult over 21 on Fridays and Saturday evenings at 6pm. Callers when told about such a policy agreed that Simon Malls should seriously look at implementing it in Castleton. Callers also agreed that Simon should come forward and speak directly with the African-American community about the problem and ask for the community’s help and assistance in helping solve it. However in a statement released late Monday (Jan 5th) Simon seemed to ignore calls for more direct action to insure safety. Here’s their Statement: “Castleton Square is proud to be a shopping destination of choice for families throughout Indianapolis. Our number one priority is to ensure we maintain a pleasant and safe shopping experience for our customers. We have the staffing, technology, and training to ensure that our patrons enjoy the property for the purposes it is intended. We want to express special thanks to IMPD for their efforts on Saturday night. Their quick reaction and activation of the Emergency Response Group were crucial in dispersing the crowds without incident. We have a long established Code of Conduct that is strictly enforced. Anyone who does not respect the Code of Conduct will be asked to leave the premises immediately.” Click the Media Player to Hear IMPD Clear Up Misinformation about the Castleton Incident and Hear Listeners’ Strong Reactions to the Castleton Mall Mess. Runs 48 Minutes. ©2015 WTLC/Radio One.
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