It has happened before. Law enforcement shows up at a big teenage gathering and announces the party is over. Kids scatter in all directions, many taking to dark roads in groups.
Five years ago, a young man, only recently graduated from high school, was struck from behind while walking on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett. Devesh Samtani, who was to enter New York University that fall, had been part of a group of friends headed to a party, but as they arrived, police were already dispersing a crowd said to number in the hundreds. Mr. Samtani’s group turned around and headed off to call an Uber. The 19-year-old driver who hit him fled the scene but was caught and eventually sentenced to 90 days in jail. It is not clear what steps East Hampton police took in reaction to the tragic loss for Mr. Samtani’s family and friends. The only visible change came some weeks later after an Amagansett parent had hounded the Town Highway Department to install signs warning drivers that people on foot might be ahead on the narrow, shoulderless road.
Disturbingly, the annual rate of pedestrian deaths in incidents involving motor vehicles is rising in the United States. Up to 2009, fewer people on foot were being killed by vehicles. The trend sharply went the other way after that — with about 75 percent more people dying each year. A New York Times investigation earlier this year concluded that changes in size and vehicle design — specifically much-higher hoods — were “killing thousands of pedestrians who otherwise might have survived.” Lower hoods help absorb impacts with pedestrians as they can roll up onto the vehicle. Current pickups and luxury S.U.V.s provide no such protection, striking near head-high and forcing victims onto the ground. Think of it: Local police here are sending young people out onto roads that are, in fact, more dangerous than ever before.
Such an outcome was avoided over the weekend, thankfully, when officers broke up a teen party at Sammy’s Beach. A few kids had apparently planned a bonfire for Saturday night, complying with town rules regarding metal fire containers and keeping a bucket of water close. But word got out, as it does, and the crowd grew. Secondhand reports were that some partygoers threw trash into the dunes and that there was under-age drinking. A nearby homeowner called police around 10 p.m. According to one young person we heard from, Marine Patrol arrived, made the kids clean up the litter they had left, and sent them on their way. This time, no one was hurt, but the roads around Sammy’s Beach are dark and narrow, and some partygoers may have had to walk far to get enough of a cellphone signal to call for a ride.
It seems time for careful thought about how officers react to kids’ parties, with the ultimate goal being that everyone gets home safely. Noise complaints and trash should not set off a teen exodus that could put them at risk of death.
Law enforcement in other places have adopted realistic crowd control strategies in which a degree of rule-bending is tolerated to serve the greater interest of public order. During protests, for example, a proven approach is to arrest individuals or subgroups for serious misconduct rather than use minor violations as a pretext to disperse an entire crowd. The goal is a kind of negotiated good behavior: fewer arrests and greater cooperation. For example, police in Miami Beach follow a “pour it out or get arrested” policy for public and under-age alcohol possession.
It should not take another tragedy like Mr. Samtani’s to find ways to keep large groups of teenagers safe. To simply break up the party without a reasonable alternative — sending dozens or hundreds of young people out into the night without a ride — is not the solution.