TOWSON, Md. — In downtown Towson, where crowd control has been the concern, county officials, police, and business leaders have come together. And they’ve got a plan for handling crowds on the busy bar nights.
WATCH: Towson, county leaders say they have a plan for crowd control
The breaking point came two weeks ago, when a bar’s Thursday night promotion drew hundreds from as far as DC.
“It was just overwhelming for our community for one evening,” says Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce.
Since then, county leaders, including police and fire, the liquor board, parking enforcement, and the state’s attorney’s office, have held meetings with the businesses here to develop a plan that supports the bars while also holding them accountable.
“We talked about what type of promotion and events that we need to have here in our community for the best interest of all involved,” Hafford says.
The solution?
Bars must hire additional security for Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, when the bars stay open until 2 a.m.
Baltimore County police will maintain increased patrols. Liquor board inspectors will enforce carding, and fire officials will check capacity limits.
We reached out to the Greene Turtle, the bar that held the Aug. 28 event. A spokesperson from their corporate office responded, saying:
“We are actively engaged with the Towson community and law enforcement to create a safe environment on York Road.”
“I’m grateful for all the participants that took it seriously,” Hafford says, “and they realize that whatever anybody does, it has to be for the good of the whole community, not just an individual restaurant.
Community leaders are also reaching out to the colleges—Towson University, Goucher College, and Morgan State University—to set clear expectations. Students from those schools live and patronize the bars there.
“We have to send a clear message that kind of unruly behavior will not be tolerated here and you will be arrested,” Hafford says.
