Arrested Development

"If police can find any reason to stop these kids and run them through their computers, they'll do it," says Doug Gradisar, a former 16th Street Mall outreach worker. "I can understand businesses wanting an inviting environment, but they're giving kids a ticket for jaywalking while other people are jaywalking all around them. You'd think the way police were watching them that they'd be major drug dealers or up to no good on a daily basis. I know that some of these kids might be doing drugs or shoplifting, but a lot of them are at Skyline Park because their home or their neighborhood is not a better place to be. From what I saw, it's definitely selective enforcement."

Dellena took her case to trial. On February 8, a six-member jury found her not guilty.

In retrospect, she considers herself lucky. She had the contacts and the wherewithal to find an attorney and challenge her arrest. But what about those on the street, like Larkin?

"A lot of these kids don't know what their rights are," Dellena says. "They don't know the resources available or where to get them. They feel like they won't be heard anyway, and if they have a record, they won't fight back, even if they're in the right."

What's worse, she says, no one cares.
"This is not a matter of peace and order and enforcing the rules," Dellena says. "It's gone way beyond that. It's a whole task force dedicated to getting rid of these kids. It's just like what happened to the homeless. They're being moved out. They're being moved from a safe area to an unsafe area. Where they're going is train tracks and crack houses and abandoned warehouses and places we don't even know."

Larkin, for example, has disappeared from the mall.
"That's not right," Dellana continues. "And people are just sitting there on the mall eating and drinking and watching this stuff happen. No one says anything or gets involved. To me, that's sad.