Towson Mall Successful First Weekend of Youth Escort Policy

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- In Towson Town Center's first weekend of a new policy curtailing teens from being without an adult chaperone Friday and Saturday nights, management says they turned away several hundred juveniles.

In a report from our media partner, The Baltimore Sun, Mall staff barred some 194 children and teens Friday night and 216 Saturday night, according to mall chief Lisa Bisenius. She said no problems were reported as Towson Town began enforcing its limits on teenage gatherings between 5 p.m. and its 9 p.m. closing time.

The effect showed on Saturday night, as retailers were pleased with brisk business and a crowded food court, Bisenius said.

"We feel like the community has come back and they're supporting us and showing us this is the right direction to go," she said.

Bisenius tells The Sun some of the teens who were turned away did return later with parents or guardians. Most of the teens who were turned away had heard about the policy and did not seem surprised by it, she said.

The injunction comes as the mall's property manager, Chicago-based General Growth Properties, decided to adopt the curfew policy after researchers found that many adults were deterred from shopping on Friday and Saturday nights because of the large number of unsupervised teenagers, calling it a "pain point" that affected potential shoppers.

The policy is being enforced by employees checking identification cards at the doors and admitting anyone who could show they were 18 or that they were accompanied by an adult. Up to four juveniles can be accompanied by a parent or other adult who is at least 21.