GREENSBORO – Police say six people were identified Thursday evening as violating the city’s new downtown curfew ordinance.
Officers also quelled multiple fights in Center City Park and along Elm Street and arrested six people connected with the fights, Police Chief Ken Miller said Friday.
Also, officers arrested three people who refused to show ID when officers thought they may be under the curfew threshold, he said.
Despite the fights and the arrests, Miller described events Thursday evening as “markedly improved” from last Saturday, according to a written report prepared for City Manager Denise Turner Roth and also distributed to City Council members.
It was Saturday when a series of fights occurred downtown and at least one gunshot was fired, police have said.
Saturday’s events prompted the City Council to call an emergency meeting and enact a downtown curfew barring anyone younger than 18 to be on the streets after 11 p.m.
Thursday was the first real test of the curfew. A parade and other Fun Fourth activities occurred downtown earlier in the day, and downtown was busy.
In his report, Miller said the police department assigned 47 officers downtown, supplemented early in the evening by an unspecified number of “staff remaining from the Coliseum fireworks show and a handful of units from our patrol divisions.”
Police established patrol zones for foot officers. Miller wrote that doing so “helped keep officers present in any area where teenagers were walking or congregating and enabled us to quickly end any fights or disruptive behavior.”
“A number of teenagers were present for and remained in the downtown area after the Fun Fourth festival concluded,” Miller wrote. “The majority of them were seen congregating in and adjacent to Center City Park. We recognized some as individuals who participated in the disruptions and fights occurring in the downtown area last Saturday night.”
Miller then described multiple fights. According to his report:
The first occurred around 8:30 p.m. on South Elm Street. Bike officers restored order.
Multiple fights, “some smaller and one larger,” occurred between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. in Center City Park or along North Elm Street near the park. Officers closed the park early.
One girl suffered minor cuts and swelling around an eye; her mother took her to a hospital.
Then, Miller wrote, groups of teenagers then began “walking and congregating in large groups” along Elm Street, some of them as far south as Washington Street.
Miller said in an interview that as many as 100 young people were in Center City Park and then later on North Elm Street.
“At 11:00 pm, we swept through downtown to put all people on notice of the curfew and clear the streets of underage teens,” he wrote in his report. “This action immediately settled the downtown area, while allowing patrons in line to attend clubs or being served in restaurants to continue with their activities without disruption.
“Over the next few hours, normalized pedestrian and vehicular traffic occupied the downtown area, with only a few interactions with curfew violators occurring.”
Of the six teens identified as violating the new curfew, four were warned and released to their parents. Police issued citations to the other two and released them to their parents.
Of the other alleged offenses, police arrested:
• Four people in Center City Park, each for affray, a legal term meaning fighting in a group of two or more. Three of the four were under 16.
• Two at 200 North Elm St., also for affray. Both were under the age of 16. Officers pepper-sprayed one of the them, a girl, to induce her to stop fighting.
• Three people for Resist/Obstruct/Delay. An officer recognized them from Saturday’s events and thought they were of curfew age. When asked, they refused to show IDs. All were above the curfew age.
Also, the rear window was smashed from a car parked near East Washington and Davie streets. Miller said police had identified no witnesses or suspects.
“Overall, the situation was markedly improved from the events of last Saturday,” Miller wrote. “We will continue with the elevated night staffing throughout the weekend and over the next several weekends, to ensure we provide the right levels of security to manage any issues that erupt.”
Greensboro — About 50 Greensboro police patrolled downtown during the Fun Fourth events. Officers made arrests for fighting and issued citations for violating the new curfew, which was approved by City Council Wednesday.
According to police, officers broke up fights on S. Elm Street, at City Center Park and N. Elm Street just north of Market Street and at City Center Park.
Charges and citations include:
Four were charged with fighting in Center City Park.
Two were charged with fighting on N. Elm Street. Pepper Spray was used by police to stop the fight.
Three were arrested for refusing to show identification to an officer
Six teens were identified for violating curfew. Four were released to parents with a warning, two were issued citations.
Police reopened North Elm Street in both directions by 12:30 p.m. The road had been closed for the Fun Fourth Festival.
More details on this story will be updated here as information becomes available.