Rioting has been a recurring pattern throughout human history. For most of recorded history, masses of like-minded people, relying on a crowd to provide anonymity and impunity, gather up and do whatever they want. The outright weight of sheer numbers make it difficult (if not impossible) for officers of the law to do anything about it. 2020 provided numerous examples of the practice’s modern iteration. 

On a smaller scale, the technique has been turned to specifically criminal ends. 2020 also saw the advent of large-scale flash mobs, in which massive groups mobbed retailers, taking whatever they wanted while the owners looked on helplessly. 

The latest spin on the mob principle is the deceptively titled “car meetup.” Some major cities have experienced issues with hundreds of motorcycles, ATVs and other vehicles all arrange to congregate and take over public roads.

Last September in Philadelphia, several of these meetups took place in front of city hall and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. According to Philadelphia 10 News, officers were attacked, roadways were damaged and vehicles were harmed. While the sheer numbers involved prevent police from stopping these events in their tracks, the cops in Philly are finding other ways to hold the perpetrators accountable.

“We’re looking at car meets as a grouping of takeovers that happen across the city, but they’re all interrelated. They’re not only interrelated in the city, but they’re interrelated on the east coast,” Philadelphia Police Inspector Ray Evers said.

As part of their new approach, police have begun using more technology to deal with the incidents. One such application is using cameras that capture license plates, allowing the officers to go back later and seek legal recourse.

They’re also using more technology on the front — gathering intelligence from cellphones and social media. Often, they’re able to determine what the semi-legal groups are planning beforehand. 

Recourse isn’t limited to a traffic citation or misdemeanor arrest, either. In 2024, Philadelphia Police confiscated 1,255 dirt bikes, ATVs and dune buggies. They’re already ahead of that number this year. 

Mobbing, or using sheer numbers to make enforcement of the law nearly impossible, is hardly a new thing. The early American government often struggled with uprisings that were based on this very concept. Groups bent on far more than peaceful protests have used the technique much more recently. Just as the employment of this technique has evolved, so has the use of technology to combat it.