Last February, a “Sweet 16” party in Snellville turned violent after someone began shooting randomly into a house crowded with about 50 teenagers, seriously wounding one of the youths.
The previous November in Conyers, police were called twice to a house party during which three teens were shot, one fatally. A few miles away, another party attracted about 100 teenagers.
That same month in Douglas County, Chapel High School senior Bobby Tillman was beaten to death at a teen party in Douglasville that attracted 60 to 80 youths.
Local communities and authorities say they are trying to get a handle on parties that start out with a few friends but because of buzz on social media can end up with dozens of uninvited youths crashing a gathering and leaving injuries and sometimes death behind.
Toward that end, Douglasville officials are considering a resolution that would urge state lawmakers to pass legislation to help give police advance notice about teen house parties. City Manager Bill Osborne said he doesn't know exactly what form such a law would take, but is hopeful state lawmakers can come up with a proposal.
The idea came from Bobby Tillman's mother, Monique Rivarde, who thinks her son might still be alive if police had known earlier that the party her son had attended was getting out of control, beginning with girls' fighting in the yard
The Douglas County district attorney is seeking the death penalty for two teenagers accused of beating Tillman to death, Emanuel Boykins and Tracen Franklin. Two other suspects, Horace Damon Coleman and Quantez Devonta Mallory, would face life sentences.
"A police car just driving by the house -- not going up to the door, not stopping and saying "Hey!' - just cruising by just to make sure everything is OK, may have changed their [suspects] minds," Rivarde said.
Osborne said Wednesday the goal in Douglasville is not to put a damper on parties or interfere with the rights of property owners, but to be in a better position to respond more quickly if parties get out of hand.
“We’re just trying to get a better heads up for our [police] department when such parties are being planned so that we can be aware of what is going on,” Osborne said. “The problem is generally not with people invited to the house party but with those, because of Twitter and Facebook, who decide to crash the party.”
Osborne and Deputy Police Chief Gary Sparks also said advance notice would allow police to plan more zoned patrols during a party.
Sparks said if “undesirables” crashing a party see a patrol car they may think twice about causing trouble.
Sparks said his department is also trying to do a better job of monitoring social media chatter to find parties that are attracting a lot of attention.
“We want them [teens] to have a party and have fun,” Sparks said. “But we want them to be safe. The best way to fight against this if we have knowledge of a party occurring.”
Douglasville’s City Council Committee has placed the proposed resolution on its Monday agenda.
Police generally respond to out-of-control parties after receiving complaints from neighbors.
Cobb County Police spokesman Officer Mike Bowman said police respond on a case-by-case basis, and if there is a reported violation of local and state law, such as reports of alcohol or drug use.
"If the party has more guests than anticipated [but] it's a legal party and they're not doing anything illegal, do we have the right to bust up the party? The answer to that question would be no," Bowman said. "If there is violation of county ordinance or state law, the answer would be yes."
Bowman said Cobb police also would respond if the amount of traffic or parking hinders the access of emergency vehicles.
Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said officers “typically enforce things like parking, noise and alcohol violations when dealing with a house party which has drawn a complaint.”
Douglasville said it has been working with Conyers authorities in trying to educate teens about the consequences of violence at parties.
After Dequavious Stephon Mapp, 18, died from a gunshot wound during the party in Conyers, authorities in the Rockdale city adopted a “zero tolerance” policy toward out-of-hand parties.
The policy involves beefing up patrols on Friday and Saturday nights.
"When we encounter these large parties, we're gonna use not only state law, but local ordinance,” Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson told AM 750 and 95.5 News-Talk WSB after Mapp’s death. “We're gonna enforce everything that we can, whether that is a licensing violation or a sanitation violation or a parking violation. We're gonna make a case."
“We don't mind people having fun, and we want people to have a good time,” Wilson said. “These large parties are getting out of hand."
Rivarde said since her son's death, youths in her community are more fearful of going out of the house and getting together for parties. She believes heightened patrols would help head off any problems.
"We don't want them to live in a box or be afraid to live their lives," she said. "We want them to enjoy themselves and feel safe in doing it."
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