City plans cordinated response to flashmobs

Call them flashmobs or something else, but whatever they are, the city has come up with a plan for handling them.

Mayor Michael Nutter’s office announced today that the city will create an “integrated, coordinated response” to flashmobs in Center City involving the Police Department, District Attorney’s Office, Law Department, Department of Human Services, Philadelphia Youth Commission, City officials, business owners and community representatives.

Details won’t be announced until next week, but for now Nutter is touting the PPD’s new SafeCam program to make private surveillance camera footage available to the department.

Things like prosecution, social response, counseling and neighborhood outreach will be viable options for preventing, stopping and reponding to flashmobs.