(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A North Side alderman says it’s time to start talking about eliminating 5 a.m. licenses for bars because of trouble in the streets after closing time.
There are 128 bars in the city that are allowed to remain open until five in the morning on weekends. 2nd Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins agrees not all of them have issues with customers who wind up in fights after closing, but discussions are needed to curb trouble.
Many times, the alderman says, guns are involved in fights that occur after closing.
“Aldermen that have bars in their ward that are experiencing this say the same thing,” Hopkins said. “The police are telling us it’s getting increasingly dangerous and increasingly difficult for them to manage the crowd.”
Ald. Hopkins and some of his peers are co-sponsoring an ordinance to take away the 5 a.m. licenses of specific night spots where there have been disturbances. He’s in favor of eliminating all 5 a.m. licenses, he said.
“It’s just a recipe for disaster, and our police are struggling to contain those crowds when they spill out onto the streets when the bar closes,” he said.
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