Eugene Delgaudio - Sterling District
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Eugene Delgaudio Fights Flash Mobs Every Day

August 20, 2011

The CNN report says police forces nationwide and worldwide are fighting the rise of flash mobs.


Flash mobs are groups of young people who riot and cause mayhem based on a social media message sent out through a variety of technolgies including but not limited to phones, text messaging, facebook and twitter.


Cnn reports "this week in Germantown, Maryland, it took less than a minute for a flash mob of teenagers to descend on a 7-Eleven, ransack shelves and make off with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff.

It's going to take much longer for police in Montgomery County to figure out how to prevent it from happening again.
"We had always thought flash mobs happen in big cities. We are unprepared. We don't have anyone who has social-media expertise," said county police spokeswoman Janelle Smith.


Jeff Gardere, a California psychologist who lectures widely on the motivations of young people, said he's not surprised by the shift.

"We're at a point where everyone understands the power of a flash mob," he said. "People inevitably started thinking this was accessible to them, and of course it is -- everyone has a phone."

(Editors note: Besides England-- on a terrible scale-- there are other incidents and curfews are working to stop the carnage- for now in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where dozens of incidents have occured)

Gardere said he believes that part of the reason flash mobs have gotten violent is that young people are discontent and bored. They don't have jobs. They hear their parents talking about the lack of jobs. They feel their options are winnowing every day. (From the CNN Report)




Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio has been promoting traditional values, strong families and jobs for teens for over three years in Sterling.

DELGAUDIO SAYS:



(QUOTE) "I have a daily committment and tell hundreds of people over the internet and person to person which companies hire teenagers. With the help of 30 other companies and the Fire and Rescue Volunteers, we have sponsored 500 teens with jobs every year for the past 3 years.

We work with parents to encourage early consideration of finding worthwhile jobs for their children when the proper time comes at age 15 or 16.

This is a constant process and there are many youth programs and charitable groups reaching out to teenagers here in Sterling including the Fire and Rescue volunteers which is extremely important and a key to fighting flash mobs or any kind of terrible new threat. By being vigilant and doing the right things Sterling is resisting "flash mobs". (UNQUOTE)


"Friend Jim Plowman or a Deputy Today"


Delgaudio says "We have to have some deputies focusing on the social media and there are some very qualified law enforcement leaders among Loudoun's force like Captain Ricky Frye in Sterling and Commonwealth Attorney Jim Plowman who is on Facebook and twitter himself. We need to see some more monitoring and friending young people. I think the best thing for Sterling and Loudoun is to friend Jim Plowman or a deputy today."



Full CNN report here

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/18/flashmobs.police/index.html

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