For those who don’t know Philly, this is one of the few good parts of town. It is where you go to dinner and shop with the family. At least that was the case when I lived there from ‘97 to ‘01, though I haven’t been back since.
Yes, I was there in '05 and felt relatively safe in this part of town. I looked it up on the map last time I was there it was not bad at all.
LE is just not equipped to handle a mini riot with 40 participants. They must be using their cell phones to organize. It should not be too hard to figure out who they are, and see who responded to the call. Survailence cameras recently got some really good pictures of such a gang that nearly beat a jogger to death. They were nice, misunderstood kids, too. They, for the most part, are now becoming acquainted with the juvenile justice system.