The city of Chicago today released a copy of the 911 tapes that preceded the closure of North Avenue Beach on Memorial Day.
Although there have previously been reports from witnesses of violent disturbances on the beach on Memorial Day, many of the recordings, which were obtained under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, contained reports of stolen bikes, dehydrated patrons and people walking in the middle of traffic on North Avenue and Lake Shore Drive.
One man, for instance, reported: “The traffic is not exiting the outer drive at North Avenue. We need a policeman down there at that traffic light going off the drive onto North Avenue because people are parking, waiting to go into the park district lot there,” according to a preliminary listen of the recordings. “Nobody’s moving.”
Another man reported: “(There’s) a guy drunk. Very drunk in the middle of the median on Lake Shore Drive standing there. A pedestrian.”
Some revelers at the beach have also said roving teens flashed gang signs, harassed picnickers and shoved cyclists off their bikes.
But Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters later that week that the beach was closed early because overcrowding made it difficult for ambulances to respond to people on the beach suffering from heat exhaustion.
“Several individuals who did not call 911 for emergency medical services requested assistance on the scene from responding (Emergency Medical Services) personnel,” Chicago police said in a prepared statement the day after Memorial Day. “After consultation with (Chicago Fire Department) personnel, the Chicago Police Department made the decision to close the beach.”
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