CHICAGO _ Bursts of chaos hit downtown Chicago Wednesday night as hundreds of students and about 200 officers wound through bustling streets.
Nearly 30 people were arrested as large groups of young people, many of them high school students, moved through the Loop and the Near North Side, breaking out in numerous fights, according to Chief of Patrol Fred Waller, speaking at the corner of State and Lake streets after 9 p.m. Twenty males and six females were taken into custody, most of them charged with disorderly conduct.
"The challenge is to keep the public safety," Waller said.
Waller said there were probably about 500 teens traveling through the city. Shortly after 9 p.m., police lined the middle of State Street outside of the Chicago Theatre. More than a dozen officers on bikes surrounded the teens and blared their sirens. About 15 minutes later, a large group bolted back to the corner of Stake and Lake streets as two women posed for a photo in front of the Chicago Theatre marquee.
"When they run like that, someone starts a fight," Waller said.
Police strategy was a lot of tolerance, talking to the kids and moving the crowd along to public transportation, Waller said.
"And people who were completely disobeying the law, they had to be arrested," he said.
Arrests were made for charges including disobeying orders to disperse and trespassing, Waller said. There were no reported injuries aside from bruises and bumps, he said.
Waller spoke about socioeconomic challenges facing Chicago and finding other modes of entertainment for the teens. He praised the officers' response: "They're so tolerant of these kids who are just so disrespectful, cursing at them, saying the things that they say.
"We've faced this challenge for the past few years coming up with different strategies and trying to do some intervention," Waller said.
About 9:30 p.m., just after Waller addressed the news media, there was a tense standoff between the teens and police outside a nearby Potbelly, as police shoved through the center of the crowd. A large group ran from the corner outside the Potbelly to The Wit hotel, leading to several more arrests.
About 9:40 p.m., a large group made their way past a packed patio at McCormick & Schmick's.
"It looks like they're going to a party," said a man who observed the crowd as he crossed the street.
A large group of students headed into the State/Lake Red Line station outside the Chicago Theatre about 10 p.m.
"Beat it, go home," an officer said.
Earlier in the night, on the third day of spring break for Chicago Public Schools, a large group of teens gathered at Millennium Park. Police moved the teens out of the park after several fights broke out.
Jon Palak, 32, of Andersonville, sat outside of Sweetwater Tavern and Grille as a bunch of kids approached the North Michigan Avenue restaurant.
"We have no idea what happened," Palak said.
Security guards stood outside the Nederlander Theatre on West Randolph Street, and the McDonald's at Dearborn Street farther west was locked. About 8:45 p.m., a large group passed the Goodman Theatre as traffic crept through nearby streets. Less than 10 minutes later, yells erupted at the nearby Subway as more than 50 teens ran in and out of the location.
Pedestrians who found themselves in the middle of the traveling groups asked police what was happening and waited for the groups to pass.
Pedro Lisbao, 30, who lives in the Streeterville neighborhood, stood with friends near Lake and Dearborn streets. Lisbao, who is Brazilian, said the massive police presence made him nervous and reminded him of kids in Brazil affected by the class divide who hang out at malls. "People are just standing and walking, but there's so many police," he said.
"We saw a very large number of cops and then a large number of kids," Lisbao said.
The kids "were running around, which is what kids do," Lisbao said. "It seemed like the cops were waiting for them. So I guess that's what we don't understand.
"We'll wait till the dust settles," he said.
For about a decade, Chicago police have periodically dealt with large crowds of teens who swarm the downtown area to spend time along the lakefront, Water Tower Place, Millennium Park or other spots when the weather starts to warm up.
Police have also had the challenging task of quelling disturbances that erupt among these crowds in an area of the city that's home to its central business district and draws tourists from around the globe.
There's often been cases when the crowds have proven to be a nuisance for the police with some teens getting into fights, vandalizing property and shoplifting or committing other crimes.
Police officials implemented strategies under previous department administrations to address mob action incidents, which are often coordinated via text messages or social networking websites, in downtown and neighborhoods near it. Police said the youths in many cases come downtown from the South and West sides using mass transit.
Police, however, have stressed that this phenomenon, involving large groups of teens, is not unique to Chicago. Philadelphia has had problems with mobs of teenagers, who also used social networking technology, assaulting pedestrians and vandalizing property since at least 2010, according to media reports.
