WINTSON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) – Winston-Salem police say large gatherings will not be tolerated.
“You may not be arrested today because … our focus is the safety of the community, but that doesn’t mean the investigation is over,” said Captain Michael Knight with the WSPD.
Twice this week, police had to break up large groups of people. First, on Monday around 3 p.m. at Hobby Park when the crowd was too big and spilled out into the street.
On Tuesday around 6:40 p.m. on North Patterson Street, police responded to a fight with weapons and found about 200 people in the street.
Police say they need your help to crack down on this issue. Police think the word about these gatherings spread on social media. If you see a post, say something before it grows out of control, and do the same if you see a crowd growing at a park or other public area.
Police say it’s also going to take teamwork from agencies across the community.
“If we do find a location, you are going to start seeing more law enforcement … We are reaching out to our partners with ALE as well,” Knight said.
He says all area law enforcement and the district attorney are on the same page.
Multiple districts responded to the scene Tuesday night.
“Typically, we prefer not to go in single officer but multiple officers, so we would stage somewhere, go in with at least a few officers … That is mainly for our safety as well because we are outnumbered. Once we get there, we don’t drive into the middle of the crowd. You will see us start on the outside and move our way in,” Knight said.
Their number one priority at the moment is safely clearing the area. Then investigators begin to make arrests. In Tuesday’s incident, no weapons were found, so the charges could include impeding traffic and other city citation violations.
“We are looking into why these are happening … This time of year, we start to see large parties happening,” Knight said.
This incident comes almost exactly one year after a large gathering at the same location where one person was injured in a shooting. While this one ended peacefully, patrols will increase in any problem spots.
Currently, police are not sure if an organization is linked to the gathering or not.
