Violence prevention groups work to thwart downtown Milwaukee ‘teen takeover’ | #childpredator | #onlinepredator | #sextrafficing

So-called teen takeovers are causing havoc in Milwaukee this week. The massive meetups are organized on social media. Sunday at Bayshore Mall in Glendale, police arrested 14 young people after fights broke out on mall property. Monday at Milwaukee’s Moody Park, there was gunfire during a different teen takeover. Nobody was hit, but authorities arrested at least two people.There was another teen takeover event planned for 3rd Street Market Hall in downtown Milwaukee Tuesday, with a flyer circulating on social media. A WISN 12 News crew did not observe any large groups, but saw security at each entrance and police patrolling for hours. “With the threat of something like that, there’s going to be an increased police presence,” 3rd Street Market Hall owner Omar Shaikh said. “My main concern always is keeping everybody safe.”3rd Street Market Hall implemented new rules in light of the recent takeovers. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent, teacher or guardian. The market hall is 21 and older after 8 p.m. each day. “We created this to, to have everybody feel safe, comfortable, everyone to enjoy themselves. It’s really a cultural melting pot here, and we really pride ourselves on that,” Shaikh said. “We just can’t have the actions of the few really affect everybody else.”Violence prevention groups, like Community Task Force MKE and 414 Life, responded to the market hall Tuesday in anticipation of a potential takeover.”This is another supposed target for the teen takeovers. And so, as of the past couple of days, we want to be a resource,” Vaun Mayes, who leads Community Task Force MKE, said.Mayes called the shots-fired incident at Moody Park disheartening.”I know people are already looking at our young people to fail. A lot of times, people look at our entire community as problems. And so when we feed into that narrative, it’s always disheartening,” Mayes said.He said members of his group have responded to each site of a supposed takeover and try to work with teens there.”A lot of times, there is not a person there to have people stop and think about what they’re doing and the consequences of that,” Mayes said. “Being that interject there, it has to become normal. That can save people from making decisions that end up life-or-death situations or free or not-free situations.”David Sinclair, outreach director for 414 Life, was at Moody Park when someone opened fire. He was there attempting to keep the peace.”It was so many young people that ascended all at one moment,” Sinclair said. “How close were you to the gunfire?” WISN 12 News reporter Kendall Keys asked.”I was pretty close. Not far at all, actually. It’s just one of those things, you know, thankful and grateful to, to God just to be alive and be well and to be able to continue into this work,” Sinclair said.Sinclair said his team works to de-escalate tense situations before they turn violent.”We’re continuously working as a collective to be able to keeping our ear to the streets and being able to mobilize,” Sinclair said. “I want to highlight the fact that our teams, up until that point, were very vigilant and very aware of what was happening in the park, and we had a lot of the young people engaged and was really working toward making positive change.”Both Sinclair and Mayes urged parents to get involved in their teens’ lives and be vigilant about knowing their whereabouts.”I think some of these young people may be lying to their parents about where they’re going and what they’re doing. So just do your due diligence to make sure that they are going where they’re going,” Mayes said. “Monitor them. Life 360, AirTags, so you can ensure you know where they are.”Sinclair urged parents to connect with 414 Life for resources and support.”Positive adult presence is what’s most important. When our young people are out having fun or doing what they want to do, we want to make sure that we set the example, set the tone, and that you can have fun, but yet be safe in the process,” Sinclair said.Top HeadlinesJury seated for Tremaine Jones, accused of killing Milwaukee officer Gunfire rings out near teen ‘takeover’ at Moody Park in MilwaukeeShowers, storms expected across southeastern Wisconsin this weekThese charts show the rise to $4 gas in the US and how it compares over time