DOUGLAS PARK — Only one person was arrested in connection to Riot Fest last weekend in Douglas Park, police officials said.
"There was significant presence of police at the event," said Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "We did have contingency planning if the event did erupt into violence, but that wasn't necessary."
The only arrest at Riot Fest was for battery in connection with a fight, Guglielmi said.
There were also 26 parking citations and three towings in relation to the event, Guglielmi said. Three people were ticketed for drugs.
"The event was seamless. Things ended at 10 each night and you didn't hear many neighbors complaining," said Ald. Michael Scott Jr. (24th), who represents part of the area around Douglas Park.
Guglielmi wouldn't say exactly how many police officers were present at the event, but did there were uniformed and plainclothes officers around the park.
At this year's edition of Lollapalooza in Grant Park, 34 people were arrested, according to the Tribune.
Riot Fest announced in May it would move to Douglas Park, after being pushed out of Humboldt Park due to concerns over crowds and park conditions.
Since the move, crime around Douglas Park has been going down, according to crime statistics.
In the weeks leading up to this year's edition of Riot Fest, drug crime dropped nearly 40 percent around its new home of Douglas Park, data shows.
Between May 19, when news of the 11-year-old fest moving to North Lawndale came out, and Sept. 3, the last date data is publicly available, the number of crimes in the area surrounding the park fell 16 percent compared with the same period the previous year, police data shows.
The drop was especially dramatic in the amount of drug crimes in the neighborhood. Marijuana possession arrests dropped by half and the number of arrests for manufacturing and delivering heroin fell from 21 in 2014 to just five this year.
Police statistics have shown leading up to Riot Fest's move, Douglas Park was surrounded by open-air drug markets, including heroin and PCP.
Any drop in crime leading up to the festival can be attributed to "proactive measures" at the district level, Guglielmi said.
Scott said the drop came based on better communication between community leaders, his office and police, but having a high-profile event in North Lawndale helped, too.
"Riot Fest doesn't hurt because it brings a light to some of the things that occur here in the 24th Ward," Scott said.
While it remains to be seen if the crime numbers will stay down, area residents said they were encouraged by safety measures put in place ahead of and during the festival.
"It was all nice and quiet around here, peaceful. Nothing happened, nothing out of the ordinary. Lots of people, but nobody caused any trouble," Douglas Park neighbor Pablo Vivar said. "And police were all up and down the block, too."
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