Wisconsin Police Warn Of New, Dangerous, Illegal TikTok Trend Reported In The State

A Wisconsin police department is warning the public about what they're calling a viral trend on the video social media platform TikTok that officials say is not only unsafe, but is also illegal.

Police in the Milwaukee area have responded to a number of reports of teenagers participating in this late-night trend, leading to charges and fines being issued to the teens for the behavior.

The trend, known as the "door-knock challenge", is reportedly popping up in places around the country, with the community of Franklin, Wisconsin in the greater Milwaukee area being one such place seeing young people participating in this viral challenge.

The police department in Franklin issued a cautionary message last week about the dangers and legal consequences of this trend.

What is the door-knock challenge?

News reports like this one from WISN TV or from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel say police departments around the country have seen an uptick in teenagers going up to the doors of homes late at night and loudly banging on them.

In doorbell camera videos, teenagers in hoods and masks or other disguises can be seen running up to people's doors at night and loudly banging on the door with their fists or kicking the doors aggressively, or sometimes even hitting the doors with objects like this incident in Houston.

After banging on the door, the kids will then run away, basically making this a loud twist on the old "ding dong ditch" prank kids have been doing for years.

Reports of this have been seen all over the country, with Wisconsin seemingly being the latest.

Why are police concerned about this?

Gary Wallace from the Franklin Police Department in Wisconsin shared in an interview with WISN TV that while some may think it to be pretty harmless, there are some concerns.

For example, startling families at night with loud banging noises at their door could lead to potentially dangerous conflicts between homeowners and these teens, who the homeowners could think are potential intruders in disguises.

Besides being an annoyance to people in the home, there are also safety concerns.

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The biggest concern, says Officer Wallace, is avoiding unwanted consequences like someone getting hurt.

What are the penalties for the door-knock challenge?

It depends on where you live, but in Franklin, for example, the police say they have arrested some participants and issued fines for disorderly conduct.

In one such case in the Milwaukee suburb of Cudahy, four teenagers were arrested for disorderly conduct with the homeowner thinking they were the victims of a break-in. All four of the teens, age 15, were later released to their parents.

The Franklin Police Department says there is a $376 fine associated with disorderly conduct charges that could come from behaviors like those seen in these door-knock challenge incidents.