Cops battle rumor control after Comiskey Park brawl; Mob scene ends in several arrests, but the ripple effects still linger

What started out as a scuffle over control of a Comiskey Parkbasketball court seemingly has taken on a life of its own - withrumor and innuendo surrounding the "mob scene" incident spilling intothe Dubuque school system and other quadrants of the community.

A dozen Dubuque police officers were dispatched to the popularNorth End park on the evening of May 27. When the dust cleared,police arrested seven juveniles and two adults on charges ofdisorderly conduct following a brawl.

Assistant Police Chief Terry Tobin said the fight broke out aftertwo groups of black males quarreled over rights to a Comiskey court.The incident escalated after police were called in and a throng ofpeople showed up to watch the fight.

"Officers reported that people at the scene were down there makingcalls on their cells phones, and that increased the crowd size,"Tobin said. Officials estimate the crowd swelled to 40 people ormore.

Police "de-escalated" the situation, and brought the suspects intocustody, but they have yet to quell the rumors that seemed to spreadlike wildfire - and nearly as dangerously - in the ensuing days.

"It's been a lot of rumor control," said Dubuque Police Chief KimWadding.

The fallout perhaps hit hardest on the last day of classes in theDubuque Community School District, when some "disturbances" putschool officials and police on heightened alert.

Tobin said some concerned parents heard from their children aboutan attack planned, rumored to be retaliation related to the Comiskeyincident.

"They said there were rumors flying around on the Internet and(cell phone) text messages there might be kids coming into theschools and that there might be shootings and fights in the schools,"he said.

While the reports turned out to be nothing more than "urbanmyths," Tobin said police did step up patrols and security on thefinal day of classes.

Tobin said the incident at Comiskey was more a matter ofgeographic dispute than gang activity. He said one "faction" was fromChicago while the other group was from Milwaukee, and that seems tobe a motivating factor in the fight.

The assistant police chief said Dubuque has long had a gangpresence here, but nothing in a truly organized capacity like biggerurban areas. But as greater numbers of inner-city transplants moveinto Dubuque, some suggest some of the inner-city crime is comingalong.

Tobin asserts incidents like the Comiskey Park brawl have nothingto do with racial rifts, but police are seeing more clashes betweenpeople moving in from larger cities.

"That has been more of what we have been dealing with this summerat Comiskey," he said.

Police did file a report of a criminal mischief complaint Mondayon what appeared to be some racially motivated graffiti in the 900block of Main Street. Someone had scrawled "White Man Must Die" in adoorway next to the long-vacant Betty Jane Candies store.

Kelly Larson, director of the Dubuque Human Rights Department,said her office has not seen an increase in hate crime complaints ordiscriminatory bias since it began tracking the statistics two yearsago.

But Larson did say the city can expect to experience some growingpains in what she sees as a kind of "culture clash."

"Any time you see a demographic shift in a community there isbound to be some tension," Larson said.

Law enforcement and park officials say they are stepping upefforts to reduce problems at Comiskey. Those involved in the brawlhave been banned from all of Dubuque's parks for one year, said GilSpence, city Leisure Services Department manager. He said increasedpark ranger and police presence in the neighborhood, even before thefight, have helped cut down incidents.

"I only know that since then things have been pretty quiet,"Spence said.

On Monday night, the Leisure Services Department launched anevening playground program, placing more supervisors at the park. Theprogram - scheduled to run four days a week between 6 and 9 p.m., isa first of its kind, Spence said.

Tobin said Comiskey has generated a greater volume of police callsthis year, with more of the problem activity apparently shifting fromJackson Park. He said facility improvements at Comiskey have broughtmore people out.

"And those areas of town have the population that frequent and usethose parks," Tobin said. "Just because of that additional use andhigher density of people down there, that tends to breed moreproblems than the lesser-used parks."

Copyright 2003 by Telegraph-Herald, All rights Reserved.