Leaders take action ahead of possible pop-up teen party in Pittsburgh area
Leaders in Homestead are taking action ahead of any possible unsupervised teen gatherings this weekend.
Mayor John Burwell told KDKA no one will be allowed at Frick Park in Homestead after 2 p.m. Saturday over concerns about a pop-up teen party.
Vaughn Rivers of Pittsburgh's violence intervention team, Reach, is an outreach worker trying to stop violence before it happens.
"This generation's creative in how they do these things," Rivers said.
He said teens are savvy these days, and he and others had doubts when they recently came across a flyer on social media for a pop-up teen party Saturday at Frick Park.
"This one really alarmed us just because some of the wording, some of the things that they were talking about bringing to this party," Rivers said.
The flyer asked kids to bring their own drugs and alcohol to the event, which is scheduled to take place at a park with rules that include no alcohol, drugs, or unsupervised children.
Reach wanted to get in front of it, especially after what happened in East Liberty last month, when what he said was a pop-up party turned violent, with more than a dozen hurt in a shooting.
"Unfortunately, at some of these parties, mixed with some of the wrong drug activity and the wrong characters coming out, it's just been a bad scene at some of them," Rivers said.
Rivers said the day after that incident in East Liberty, Reach came across an event at Ammons Pool. In that case, things went smoothly.
"Outreach did what we were supposed to. We got a call, and we went and intervened," Rivers said.
As they do the same in Homestead, Mayor Burwell told KDKA that when the park closes early, it will have borough officers monitoring the area and neighboring departments from Munhall and West Homestead ready to assist.
On Friday, KDKA witnessed public works crews putting up barricades near each corner of the park.
"It's going to take a village approach, organizations that are in this work that want to help out teens, the parents being involved, as we continue to work with the schools," Rivers said.
Rivers said that by coming together as a community and providing teens with other ways to spend their time at activities like cookouts, they can make a difference.
"We want to give them a space to have fun just as long as it's positive and there's no violence," Rivers said.
Reach is hosting multiple events the rest of the summer, including one Friday night in East Hills Park from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.