Luther Bedford fears that one day fans will be banned from high school basketball games at some Chicago public schools for security reasons.
That day may come sooner than the Marshall High School athletic director thinks.
On Thursday, a day after a fight in the bleachers forced the suspension of a Public League game at Crane, schools CEO Arne Duncan said he was encouraging the school system’s principals to limit admission to students with identification and the players’ relatives.
“Unfortunately you have some people coming in . . . who are there to cause trouble,” Duncan said. “We have to eliminate that element so the vast majority can enjoy the game in a safe and secure environment.”
Austin Principal Learna Brewer-Baker took that step earlier this week, banning spectators from boys and girls basketball games at the West Side school with the exception of Austin students and players’ parents and guardians. The reason, she said, is because she can’t afford to hire sufficient security.
“I hate to do that,” she said. “But if you can’t provide adequate security, it’s like having a Bulls game without any security.”
The concerns over security have grown in the two years since the Chicago Police Department, in an effort to save money, stopped assigning officers to games. Individual schools have scrambled to replace them with private security and faculty, but with mixed results.
The fears were underscored Wednesday evening during the game between Crane and visiting Manley. School officials believe high emotions caused by a shooting in the neighborhood spilled into the gymnasium, provoking the fight.
It wasn’t the only incident at a city high school game that night, but it was the most serious. At Julian, the Jaguars’ game against Fenger was stopped briefly when it appeared a conflict was brewing among fans. Julian coach Loren Jackson left the bench to resolve the matter.
“There was no dispute,” Jackson said. “But when kids get riled up, the first thing you want to do is get it under control. That’s what we did.”
At Farragut, school security guards broke up a confrontation between a former student and a teacher during a game against Austin. Security personnel then cleared away scores of fans who had packed that area of the gym in anticipation of a fight.
Earlier this season, Marshall basketball player Brandon Johnson suffered multiple concussions when an opponent’s brother stepped out of the bleachers and punched him during a game at Westinghouse. Johnson, also a top football player, will not be able to play any sport for the rest of this school year, coach Al Williams said.
Officials at many schools said a constant police presence used to deter problems.
“Nothing is as effective as someone in uniform,” said Al Scott, athletic director at Simeon.
But in hopes of reducing overtime pay, the police department stopped routinely assigning officers to basketball games beginning last season.
Police continue to patrol the neighborhoods and check the gyms periodically, especially when school officials alert them of an upcoming game between intense rivals, said Lt. Dorothy Piscitelli, who oversees school patrols.
“We provide for safe passage outside,” she said.
But school officials also worry about what happens inside. Bedford said he and other schools pay staff members $15.95 to stay after school to supervise games.
“It’s a mess,” Bedford said. “It’s hard to get people to work. Teachers who used to assist don’t want to stay around.”
Many faculty aren’t trained in crowd control, and incidents such as Wednesday’s indicate an increasing need for tighter security, officials added.
Crane was the scene of a near-riot a year ago when police entered a basketball game and confronted a spectator carrying a handgun.
Officials later learned the gun was unloaded, but the scare was enough to prompt Crane officials to step up security. All fans now enter through metal detectors, and officials credit that precaution with preventing Wednesday’s fight from turning more violent.
Duncan said Thursday that school officials and Crane Principal Melver Scott have agreed to allow only students with identification and players’ family members at future games.
Will Smith, the public schools’ director of sports special-events security, said individual schools still can hire off-duty police or trained security personnel through the school system. But each school must pay for it with its own discretionary funds, Smith added, unless the Board of Education directly sponsors the event. Some police officers voluntarily supervise games.
Austin’s Brewer-Baker said she allotted funds for student activities for the 2002-03 school year and came up short.
“The security would require more than we have funds for,” she said.
She became alarmed over lack of security at a December game when she saw several unsupervised students loitering in a stairwell near the gymnasium.
“I saw the potential for danger,” she said. “I saw that kids could have gotten into a conflict.
“[Excluding fans] was a hard decision. I’m a product of Chicago Public Schools. I used to love the rivalries.”
Austin players said they understood her decision.
“We like the atmosphere where there are a lot of fans, but no team wants to go anywhere where they have to watch their back,” senior Marlon Williams said.
Security is not an issue for all city schools. But it is a great challenge for some schools with long-standing basketball traditions and fierce rivalries on the court.
Their small gymnasiums quickly become cramped and hot, and it’s common for fans to loiter on or near the courts at the end of games or at halftime–a mix that gives school officials pause.
Piscitelli said she regularly assigned six to eight officers to some games involving storied West Side rivals when the police department was staffing them.
“[But] for every police officer you’re replacing, you need three or four of your own security guards,” Brewer-Baker said.
Eliminating fans altogether is not unprecedented. Marshall’s Bedford recalls that games were played behind closed doors in the 1960s.
“I’d hate to see that happen,” Bedford said. “But you have to allot an adequate amount of money for security.
“Or you can go back to no spectators.”
