Deeper safety issues raised for Havre de Grace July 4 carnival, which drew 'immense crowds' and led Royal Farms to close early

Amid ongoing concerns about crowd controls and emergency vehicles access and other issues, Havre de Grace city officials continue to wrestle with the fallout from incidents following the Independence Day celebration and how to handle any similar situations in the future.Mayor Bill Martin vows there won't be a repeat of fighting at the carnival, while the city's police chief says they'll be looking to better deal with the crush of people and vehicles converging on the city for the celebration, which she admits was overwhelming.The night of Sunday, July 3, following the annual parade and fireworks, did have several different safety issues, Chief Teresa Walter said Wednesday.She said the risks were exacerbated by the unusually large crowd, which may have been partly caused by the cancellation of fireworks and other events in parts of Baltimore County, as well as the prediction of severe thunderstorms for the Fourth of July.&quot;There were so many people that had come into the city that this was the first time that we really experienced that volume,&quot; Walter said. &quot;This was probably the largest volume of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.&quot;City Councilman David Glenn sparked some of the latest controversy over the celebration during the July 18 council meeting, when he brought up a fight that occurred as the carnival in Tydings Park, held in conjunction with celebration, was wrapping up.Earlier this week, Glenn sent a letter to The Record and The Aegis in which he said he wanted to clarify his position of the celebration, but he also raised other safety concerns.&quot;The Royal Farms store on the corner of Revolution and Juniata [streets] had to shut down and close its doors that night because the situation there got totally out of control,&quot; Glenn wrote.He also wrote that &quot;immense crowds in Havre de Grace that night&quot; made it very difficult for fire or medical responders to get to the scene, adding that the juveniles detained in the fight used language &quot;not for public printing&quot; and &quot;showed absolutely no respect for our community.&quot;&quot;Keep in mind, that if I did nothing, and we had a repeat of the events next year and someone got seriously hurt or shot...I would never be able to forgive myself,&quot; he wrote.Havre de Grace Police Capt. Wayne Young said earlier that two juveniles were taken into custody as a result of the fight, which broke out at 9:10 p.m. and included about 30 to 40 people who were inciting the incident. Although no one was injured, one person tried to take an officer's baton and threw gravel at the officer, he said.After the fireworks, as people left the city, &quot;there were so many people at Royal Farms that the manager of Royal Farms actually asked that we [help] close it down,&quot; Walter confirmed.The number of people in the park area did make it very hard for emergency vehicles to get in or out, she said, explaining: &quot;When you have that many people in a small area, it is a safety concern. We like to see traffic flowing freer.&quot;Walter nevertheless said the celebration was generally successful, and &quot;the Independence Day Committee always puts on a very nice event, and I am anticipating the new committee does the same thing.&quot;The committee is in transition as its longtime members stepped down following this years celebration. Several new leaders have already come forward.Planning for and staging the Independence Day celebration is &quot;generally a good group event,&quot; Walter said.&quot;I think it was a very successful Fourth of July, but we do want to make it more successful,&quot; the chief said, noting the police and other stakeholders always sit down and critique the event afterward to see what went well and what could be improved.Martin said he was not especially surprised by what transpired as the carnival wound down. He said the City Council had tried to suggest more safety improvements at a meeting with committee leaders earlier that were met with resistance.&quot;The chief always says, 'If it's predictable, it's preventable,'&quot; Martin said Wednesday, adding the fight, rowdiness and crowds were definitely predictable.He said he saw the crowds himself, and was on Commerce Street as people tried to exit the area. Martin said there was plenty of littering, rowdiness and disrespect for property owners.Martin, however, said he is optimistic about the new committee coming in, although he is unsure of why the old committee leaders want the new leaders to make the group a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which would take another year.Martin would like to see the carnival open at a different time other than around the fireworks and parade. He said the number of events happening at one time is overwhelming. He did promise the parade and fireworks will definitely be back for July 4 next year, regardless.The mayor said he has heard students at Aberdeen Middle School, where he teaches, talk about the Havre de Grace carnival as a place where fights could break out.&quot;One thing I can promise you, this won't happen again next year,&quot; Martin said, explaining he wants to work with the new committee to potentially change the timing of the carnival.Glenn said he does not want to point the finger at police, city leaders or anyone specific but wants people to help come up with a solution.&quot;I try to eliminate rumor control because people say, 'Oh, they're just trying to shut down the carnival,'&quot; he said about his reason for writing the letter. &quot;All I said was, we went through this last year with the [Independence Day] Committee and they didn't want to do anything different.&quot;The committee made a few smaller changes and &quot;it didn't work,&quot; Glenn said.&quot;I am concerned because when you turn on the TV at night and you see one shooting after another, what would have happened if you got somebody pulling out a shotgun?&quot; he said of the carnival.Glenn said he met Monday with the committee and &quot;we have to sit down together and we have to figure out what's the best path forward.&quot;Like the mayor, Glenn wonders if moving the carnival to a different time, or not having it the day of the parade and fireworks, would help.The councilman said he loves the city's July 4 events and noted the carnival was great on Saturday this year.

Deeper safety issues raised for Havre de Grace July 4 carnival, which drew 'immense crowds' and led Royal Farms to close early

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