The Mall in Columbia will require chaperones for minors on weekends
BALTIMORE -- The Mall in Columbia announced Thursday that youth must be chaperoned by adults after reports of unruly behavior at the shopping center.
The "parental guidance required" rule will take effect on March 31.
Any visitors under 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult who is at least 21 years old after 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the mall said.
During those hours, officers will be present to check the IDs of young visitors.
"After many discussions and careful consideration, we've determined that implementing a formal curfew program is necessary to help maintain a safe environment for our shopping center community," the Senior General Manager of the mall, Mary Williams, said in a statement. "Implementing a PGR program is not something we've entered lightly, and I want to be clear that everyone is still welcome at all times, but on weekends we now require that families shop together."
Howard County police told WJZ they met with mall management in January about groups of minors in the area on Fridays and Saturdays.
Employees and customers at the Mall in Columbia complained to mall management in November after seeing a group of 20 to 30 youths get into fights, hit people with Orbeez guns — which shoot polymer gel beads — and getting in the way of shoppers and store entrances every weekend, always between 4 and 7 p.m., according to our media partner The Baltimore Banner.
Because of that meeting, police increased officer presence starting Jan. 26 through "foot patrols and area checks of the mall and surrounding parking lots."
On January 28, police responded to a large group of disorderly minors at the mall, which resulted in three arrests.
THE AVENUE at White Marsh recently issued a youth escort policy, which started on January 13. The policy prohibits teens 17 or younger from going into the mall without a parent or guardian over 21.
The same policy is in place for the White Marsh Mall and the Towson Town Center.
