What's next for The Banks after Opening Day shutdown? Reds play Red Sox
· Yahoo Sports
The Cincinnati Reds are set to play their second game of the season Saturday, a couple days after a series of disturbances at The Banks and elsewhere triggered a large-scale police response during Opening Day festivities.
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Thousands were in Cincinnati's urban core on March 26 for the Reds' season opener. Large crowds stood shoulder-to-shoulder inside and outside bars at The Banks just outside Great American Ball Park for the entire afternoon and most of the evening.
In the hours after the game, disorderly behavior and fights were reported at The Banks, as well as in Over-the-Rhine and around Fountain Square, which prompted calls for police assistance.
Interim Cincinnati Police Chief Adam Hennie said officers began responding to the calls early evening. Police, along with help from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol, eventually shut down The Banks at around 8 p.m. and began clearing people out.
What's next for The Banks?
Here's everything we know ahead of the Reds' second game against the Boston Red Sox at 4:10 p.m. on March 28.
Will operations, hours change at The Banks going forward?
It is unclear if businesses at The Banks will continue to operate as normal going forward or if the city plans to implement any kind of safety measures.
City Manager Sheryl Long did not say if any changes might be coming to The Banks. As of Friday evening, March 27, The Banks Business Community, which represents all merchants in the district, has not announced anything either.
However, The Banks Business Community, did release a statement early Friday afternoon, which said the following:
"As part of a beautiful Opening Day of events, the businesses at The Banks in partnership with the Reds Community Fund hosted the annual Block Party from 11:00am-3:30pm with no incidents. In the evening when the disturbances that were happening elsewhere in the city started to surface at The Banks, we immediately cooperated with CPD in clearing the area and closing down our businesses. We thank the Cincinnati Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, and the Ohio State Patrol for their help, and we will continue to work together to ensure The Banks is a safe place to have fun."
The Enquirer has reached out to police and The Banks' bars and restaurants for more information.
Who has been arrested, charged in connection to the disturbances?
In a statement on March 27, Hennie said 17 people were arrested, ranging in age from 14 to 50 years old.
Those arrests include charges of disorderly conduct, having weapons while intoxicated, failure to comply, assault and resisting arrest.
Despite some social media posts blaming a large-scale Cincinnati police response after the Reds Opening Day festivities on unruly juveniles, the vast majority of those charged in the disturbances were adults.
Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Kari Bloom said only one child has appeared in court so far in connection with groups misbehaving in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. That charge was for littering, Bloom told The Enquirer, and the teen is being held at the Hamilton County Youth Center for a warrant from a different county.
Two girls were also brought to the youth center on disorderly conduct charges on the evening of March 26, she said. It remains unclear if those charges are related to issues at The Banks and elsewhere. Neither child is being held in custody.
What have city leaders said?
Mayor Aftab Pureval, who was on vacation in Vancouver for his son's spring break, called for "full accountability" for those involved in the disturbances that led police to shut down The Banks.
"It's an outrage," Pureval said in a statement. "This is exactly what causes fear and concern among our guests who come to support our urban core. It’s the kind of behavior that forces us to look at and implement more severe crowd control restrictions in our Downtown."
City Councilman Mark Jeffreys made a similar point on his X account Friday. "Disappointed/angry that a beautiful Opening Day and amazing Cincinnati tradition was disrupted by a bunch of hooligans," he wrote. "This is on all of our community to address this issue not just the police."
During a conversation on The Lincoln Ware Show on Friday morning, Cincinnati City Councilman Scotty Johnson pushed back on criticisms that the city is "soft on crime"
Johnson saluted law enforcement for maintaining control and decorum amid sporadic fights throughout the urban core. He recommended that those who are critical of Cincinnati police point their frustration toward other parts of the justice system, such as judges who handle probation and bond.
"Nobody can name one policy, procedure or ordinance that ... stopped police from enforcing the law," Johnson said.
City Manager Long praised the work of all the law enforcement agencies that helped clear the crowd.
“The disruptive and violent actions exhibited last night will not be tolerated in our city," Long said. "What should have been a day celebrating a long-standing Cincinnati tradition has been overshadowed by unruly crowds set on chaos."
"As a community," she added, "we must do better."
Have the Reds issued a statement?
The Reds have not released a statement on the disturbances on Opening Day.
What happened at The Banks?
Dozens of police officers armed with riot shields, nonlethal shotguns and pepper spray shut down The Banks late Thursday evening after police said large crowds became disorderly following the Reds Opening Day game.
At about 8 p.m., an Enquirer reporter saw officers lined shoulder-to-shoulder at both ends of The Banks along Freedom Way. Downtown Capt. David Schofield ordered officers to advance and split the crowd, clearing the entertainment district.
As officers moved forward, they encountered resistance. Some officers used wrist ties to detain individuals as the crowd was pushed apart. At 8:25 p.m., police began issuing commands over a megaphone, repeatedly announcing, “The Banks is now closed.”
Bars closed their patrons in and security ushered those on patios to leave as police advanced. People fell over, dropping their outdoor drink cups and losing phones and eyeglasses. There was confusion with people in the crowd asking loudly what was going on and where they were expected to go.
The crowd moved slowly with many people unresponsive to officers as they advanced.
Hennie and several commanders were present, along with dozens of Cincinnati officers, SWAT, Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies, Ohio State Highway Patrol officers. Police were visible on both sides of The Banks as officers worked to clear the area.
The Banks was mostly cleared by 10 p.m. as people stumbled their way outside yellow police tape wrapped around planters along the street.
"We as a department planned extensively for this event and ensured we had appropriate staffing levels throughout the day to support public safety," Hennie said. "Unfortunately, as the day progressed, officers encountered several groups whose behavior became disruptive and unruly."
Hennie added that officers were not deployed in riot gear; however, when the large crowds started to create safety concerns, officers used crowd control techniques to disperse those groups.
"These measures are designed to prevent situations from escalating and to protect everyone present," Hennie said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Is The Banks open for Reds second game after Opening Day closure?