BALTIMORE (WBFF) — After years of complaints about large crowds, underage drinking and disorder in Fells Point, the neighborhood looks noticeably different this summer after Baltimore Police and city leaders implemented a series of new restrictions.
Earlier this summer, FOX45 News documented hundreds of young people packing the streets of Fells Point on weekend nights. Residents and business owners reported fights, underage drinking, and repeated calls for police service.
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While people who live and work in the neighborhood say these problems have been happening for years, they say this summer marked the first time they saw police take significant action to stop the crowds from returning.
The city implemented checkpoints and physical ID requirements in parts of Fells Point, prohibited unaccompanied minors from entering the permitted area and restricted outside alcohol.
“Ever since they put the barricades up here, it’s completely changed,” Anthony Weaver, who works in Fells Point, said.
Another supported the ID checkpoints, saying young people under age 18 should not be congregating in an area largely centered around businesses serving adults 21 and older.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley warned earlier this summer that the behavior seen during several crowded weekends “will not be tolerated anywhere in the city.”
Weeks later, the contrast is striking.
Video from earlier in the summer shows streets packed with young people, liquor bottles and officers attempting to control large crowds. More recent weekends show open sidewalks, a visible police presence and significantly smaller crowds.
But, some business owners say the crackdown may be creating another problem.
They worry barricades and checkpoints could discourage customers from visiting Fells Point during one of the neighborhood’s busiest seasons.
One business owner told FOX45 News, “No one solved the problem. They just put a Band-Aid on it.”
That owner said the larger issue is accountability and what happens when the increased enforcement eventually disappears.
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Others pointed to the role of parental supervision.
“There’s no sense out here for you to be out here without supervision,” Deminiken Arrington, a Fells Point resident, said. “Especially with all these kids, there’s a lot of stuff around. So, supervision is a must.”
The question now may no longer be whether increased enforcement can change the atmosphere in Fells Point. The quieter weekends suggest that it can.
The current weekend restrictions are expected to remain in place through Labor Day.
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