The Peoria Police Department and City of Peoria say they’re taking a more aggressive stance on regulating large, unruly weekend crowds downtown in the late night and early morning hours.
At a news conference Friday, Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria announced the department’s plan to station more officers for longer shifts near the intersection of Main Street and Northeast Monroe Street.
“They'll treat you with respect. And they'll say hi and they'll greet you,” he said. “But if you decide to violate the law, we're going to cite you and we're going to arrest you on any possible charges we can. We're not going to accept this any longer. And we're putting our foot down.”
Echevarria made the announcement in front of a crowd of dozens, including Peoria Mayor Rita Ali, city council members, other police officers and representatives from several community organizations.
Ali voiced her full support for the strategy to curb downtown crowds.
“If you're out here and you're violating city ordinances, drinking alcohol on the streets, smoking drugs, littering, shooting, fighting, carrying weapons, expect to be removed,” she said. “Expect to be arrested and or ticketed. The irresponsible behavior, that irresponsible behavior will not continue to be tolerated.”
The announcement comes after police say more than 300 people were in the area early last Sunday morning. Echevarria said shortly after 20 officers arrived, they heard more than 40 rounds fired behind the nearby Riverside Church.
“This has to stop, I've continued to say it has to stop,” he said.
According to city documents obtained by WCBU through a records request, these summer gatherings started as early as the weekend of May 6.
“As you may have seen by the significant events last night, the downtown crowd gathered earlier this year,” wrote Chief Echevarria in an email to the city council and staff members. “We are working with (Deputy Director of Peoria Public Works) Sie Maroon who will be delivering crowd/traffic control items downtown today for this evening.”
Significant event reports sent out to council members and staff show the department has used barriers in an attempt to control crowds, though they’re often knocked down and have to be reset by officers. On two occasions, police deployed pepper balls to disperse the crowd after fights broke out.
At a recent city council meeting, some members suggesteda change in bar hours, temporarily restricting bars with 4 a.m. liquor licenses to an earlier closing time to discourage the crowds. Mayor Ali said the council hasn’t pursued the idea any further.
“There's no action that's in place to change that,” she said. “We are not trying to penalize the bars. What we’re trying to do is change the behavior of the people.”
Echevarria added many of the people involved aren’t customers of the bars in the first place. He said the department isn’t concerned that cracking down on the downtown area could move the crowds to a different location.
“If they do leave, we hope they go and they go to separate areas,” he said. “We have other officers that are still working the city, they'll be able to deal with that as well.”
According to Echevarria, the issue downtown is separate from growing concern with juvenile crimein Peoria.
“We're not talking about juveniles out here. What we're talking about are 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds out here who want to have a total disregard for life and the law,” he said. “It's not the juveniles that are hanging out here.”
Community leaders spoke in support of the department’s new strategy, including Antwaun Banks of Product of the Project, Carl Cannon of Elite Community Outreach and Peoria NAACP President Marvin Hightower.
“The NAACP is not in favor of over policing, but in favor of the safety of the community,” said Hightower. “The NAACP is not in favor of stop and frisk. But we are in favor of if you break the law, you will and must be held accountable.”
Others stressed the critical nature of reducing gun violence downtown.
“It is going to require every ounce of strength, and muscle and fiber in our body, to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” said Art Inc. CEO Jonathon Romain. “And so on any given day, I am going to choose them over the idiots who feel like they have a right to pull a gun out and shoot into a crowd of 200 people.”
The increased police presence starts immediately.
