CINCINNATI — Businesses at The Banks lost hours worth of income Thursday after police said “disorder and violence” caused them to shut down the area early on Opening Day — the busiest day of the year.
Our crews were at Great American Ball Park when Cincinnati police and SWAT began clearing out The Banks, directing people towards “the city” just after 9 p.m. Thursday.
“This is your official warning … it is time to go home,” someone could be heard saying over a loudspeaker.
One source with The Banks business community, who wished not to be identified, told us that the early shutdown greatly impacted the local businesses that rely on Opening Day.
The source told WCPO 9 that from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, it was “peaceful and wonderful.”
“After 4:30 p.m., it was like someone flipped a switch,” the source said. “It was chaos. It was too much, too fast.”
On Wednesday, one day before Opening Day, officials told us about the numerous safety measures they were taking as they expected 100,000 people throughout the day.
“All of our resources will be brought to bear down on this event. We’re gonna have our civil disturbance response team, they’ll be out in full force. We’re gonna have multiple SWAT response teams who will be out, patrolling the event site, patrolling the parade route,” said Capt. David Schofield with the Cincinnati Police Department.
The source said despite the police presence, it seemed like nothing could deter the massive crowds.
“We can’t blame the police. They were everywhere,” the source said. “It did nothing to deter the individuals in these massive crowds …They think they can openly drink alcohol in glass bottles and smoke weed in the middle of the street in the middle of the day with little kids around. It is ridiculous.”
They added that shutting down hours early really hurt the businesses at The Banks.
“It’s the busiest and best sales day of the year. Some businesses lost six-and-a-half hours of steady income,” the source said.
WCPO tried to speak with multiple businesses on camera at the banks, but were told to contact their media team. The Banks businesses later released this statement:
“As part of a beautiful Opening Day of events, the businesses at The Banks in partnership with the Reds Community Fund hosted the annual Block Party from 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. with no incidents.
In the evening when the disturbances that were happening elsewhere in the city started to surface at The Banks, we immediately cooperated with CPD in clearing the area and closing down our businesses. We thank the Cincinnati Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, and the Ohio State Patrol for their help, and we will continue to work together to ensure The Banks is a safe place to have fun.”
