Brooklyn Park Police Again Work To Break Up Large Disturbances at City Parks
Brooklyn Park Police dispersed large groups of youth out of city parks after fights broke out this holiday weekend.
This was the second time in just over a week that law enforcement responded to large parties-turned-violent in Brooklyn Park.
“It is well-intentioned and the kids are looking for something fun to do, exciting to do,” said Brooklyn Park police Inspector Elliot Faust. “That’s why we have parks, is for people to enjoy. We have these pavilions for people to get together and to socialize.”
But, when hundreds of kids are involved, police take notice.
“With a size of 3-400 people, that’s a pretty large number for, again, a traditional patrol force to really handle,” Faust said.
Previous Fights
On Friday, June 9, Brooklyn Park police responded to River Park after a large group of youth gathered at the park at night and fights broke out.
“It just seems that there are different factions of amongst our young people that, when they come in contact with each other, they don’t get along,” Faust said.
Gathering Monday Started in Maple Grove
A group of teens and young adults used social media to organize a large gathering again on Monday.
Hundreds of people met at Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove. Law enforcement responded to the park and told them to disperse.
Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies told Brooklyn Park police that the group was likely to meet again at Noble Sports Park.
As a result, Brooklyn Park Police responded to the park between 8-8:30 p.m.
“We reminded those people that what happened last weekend was not acceptable,” Faust said. “It seemed that just the officers’ presence there made a lot of those cars turn around and leave.”
According to Faust, police were more prepared for the gatherings this week.
“Our violence intervention group responded out and assisted us as best they could,” he said.
Central Park Youth Fights
By about 9 p.m., the group made its way to Central Park.
“Everything started off very peaceful, just a gathering,” Faust said. “As the crowd grew in size, it seemed that an element of chaos got introduced and some fights began breaking out in the crowd. That’s when officers did call an unlawful assembly and ordered the group to disperse.”
Police gave the crowd 30 minutes to leave.
In the following chaos, one person was struck be vehicle and was hospitalized.
“We’re investigating exactly the circumstances surrounding that,” Faust said. “It did not sound that the injuries were severe so that’s good news.”
Another person was injured in a fight. EMTs treated the victim at the scene.
Faust characterized the fights as “isolated.”
“These are not groups of people that are trying to victimize other people as best we can tell,” he said.
Parental Advice
With these large parties at parks becoming more common, Faust asked parents to be more vigilant about their kid’s plans.
“Find out what your kids are up to,” he said. “When they say they’re going somewhere verify that, make sure that they’re not going to these social media-fueled gatherings. it doesn’t seem that a lot of real positivity is coming out of these.”
