CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago police are calling this year’s Lollapalooza one of the safest in several years as they release some crime statistics from the massive music festival.
According to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, Chicago police made 19 arrests over the four-day festival; a drop from 31 arrests in 2019, but up from the 12 in 2018.
First Deputy Eric Carter said most of the arrests this year were for criminal trespass. Fence jumping is a tradition at Lollapalooza that again saw videos on social media of people running through breaches in rigid fencing.
"But it was one of the safest Lollapaloozas that we put on in recent years. No major incidents inside the park or outside the park," Carter said.
The city also recorded 102 ambulance transports this year, down from 116 in 2019 and 160 in 2018, officials said.
Police also issued fewer citations this year. Officials said seven people were ticketed this year, fewer than the 12 in 2019 and a fraction of the 34 recorded in 2018.
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OEMC gave no details of the arrests, transports or citations.
In 2020, Lollapalooza shifted to an online-only event due to the pandemic. The festival went ahead this year despite a rise in coronavirus cases, with the highly infectious Delta variant sparking a surge nationwide.
A day into the festival, organizers announced that masks would be required at all indoor spaces on festival grounds following updated guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
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