The City of Peoria is enacting an updated prohibition of public nuisance gatherings, giving police the authority to disperse crowds when individuals are engaged in unlawful activities.
“We’re trying to put a tool in law enforcement’s hands that deal with the circumstances that they see on the streets and that give them an opportunity to warn our citizens that they need to disperse before they take action,” said city attorney Patrick Hayes.
Following a 48-minute discussion, the Peoria City Council unanimously approved the measure during an almost 3½-hour meeting Tuesday night that also included passage of several amendments to balance the proposed biennial budget, and nine speakers during 45 minutes of public comments.
The impetus for updating public nuisance restrictions was an incident in the early morning hours of Sept. 28 when a downtown crowd clashed with officers who were attempting to render aid to a gunshot victim.
“They were interfering with officers who were trying to provide aid. They were not cooperating when several police asked them to leave the area or to move away from the victim,” said Mayor Rita Ali. “It was really an unacceptable scenario that we can’t allow to continue in Peoria.”
Under the new ordinance, a nuisance gathering is identified as a crowd of 10 or more individuals with at least two occurrences of actions on a list of 15 “qualifying offenses.”
Those offenses include unlawful possession of alcohol, cannabis, or controlled substances; discharging firearms and unlawful possession of weapons; vandalism and property damage; mob action, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and public indecency.
A violation of an order to disperse is punishable by a fine of at least $250 and not more than $1,000.
“This tool will most likely be predominantly used without any citations being issued, because it gives law enforcement the authority to require the crowds that are gathered with illegal conduct present to disperse,” said Hayes.
Peoria’s ordinance is modeled after one adopted by the Town of Normal in December after a fatal shooting at a pop-up party near the Illinois State University campus.
“It’s really sad, very sad that we even have to have this ordinance, and it speaks to the moral fabric of our society, not just Peoria,” said council member Bernice Gordon-Young.
Council member Mike Vespa said he had concerns that the ordinance could expose the city to potential lawsuits claiming it violates the First Amendment’s protection of peaceable assembly.
“You can’t have a protest where people are exercising their free speech rights, and then because the actions of one or two ‘no-good-nicks,’ just the whole group told, ‘Oh, you got to disperse,’ when they’re there for something that they really, really care about,” said Vespa. “It’s political speech, and it’s protected under the First Amendment. That is dangerous territory.”
Ali and Hayes both said the ordinance would not be applied to civil protests.
“These types of ordinances can be utilized and are constitutional if they are content-neutral, if they are narrowly tailored, and if they’re aimed at specific unlawful conduct,” said Hayes.
Council member Denis Cyr suggested the possibility of having downtown bars close at 2 a.m. instead of 4 a.m., and making the presence of working security cameras a liquor license requirement as ways to deter the early morning gatherings.
“I can’t really tell you that it would affect that, because these aren’t customers that are patronizing these liquor establishments,” police chief Eric Echevarria said in response. “These are groups that show up, find a place to hang out, and park and drink and smoke drugs and play loud music.”
Council member Zach Oyler commended the new nuisance gathering restrictions, saying they can help reduce downtown criminal activity and restore the area’s reputation.
“I think it’s become relatively commonplace in public to just accept that this is an acceptable way of life downtown, and it’s not,” said Oyler.
“We need to be cautious and judicious in making sure that we’re actually attacking the right problem, but this is a good start to sending the message that we are going to fix downtown. We are not going to tolerate these activities that have been going on downtown.”
