Disorderly youth are a common reason for complaints from urban residents and merchants, as well as from shoppers and merchants in malls and business districts. Officers must balance youths' rights against complainants' rights, distinguish legitimate from illegitimate complaints, be flexible in responses, and remain sensitive to how the public will perceive police actions. Related problems include assaults in and around bars, graffiti, intimidation by youth gangs, large crowd management, loud car stereos, open-air drug dealing, panhandling, underage drinking, and vandalism. In analyzing such problems, this guide suggests questions that pertain to the characteristics of complainants and complaints, characteristics of the youth and their behaviors, and locations/times that problems occur. Given that evaluation is necessary for determining the effectiveness of a given response to the problem, this guide lists some potentially useful measures of the effectiveness of responses to disorderly youth in public places. This is followed by a review of the following responses to the problem: creating alternative legitimate places and activities for youth; modifying public places to discourage disorderly behavior; establishing and enforcing rules of conduct for youth; and responses with limited effectiveness. The latter refer to increasing patrol by uniformed police officers and strictly enforcing laws against youth. 55 notes, 31 references, and appended summary of responses to disorderly youth in public places