Reds fans return to The Banks after Thursday night chaos

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Reds fans packed the Banks on Saturday, days after chaos erupted downtown following Thursday night's game.

Videos from Thursday night showed crowds swarming officers and people falling over. Multiple arrests were made after fights broke out downtown.

Many fans said they didn't let that stop them from coming out Saturday.

"I was surprised at what happened, actually, but today I feel very calm being here," one fan said.

Another fan said she and her companion discussed the incident but didn't hesitate to attend.

"We didn't hesitate, but we mentioned it, he was like this is what happened and I was like oh my gosh, but we didn't hesitate about coming here today...no," she said.

One couple said the daytime start factored into their decision.

"Probably won't be coming down here at midnight on the weekend, but we're fine during the day, it's a beautiful weekend, everyone's very nice and crowd-friendly, no worries," they said.

Cincinnati police said they had their normal presence at the Banks, along with support from the Civil Disturbance Response Team and SWAT that they have every weekend.

Lieutenant Patrick Caton said Saturday's detail included officers working both inside and around the Banks area.

"We have a standard detail that works the actual game, it's about 20-30 officers provide security in and around the stadium, in addition to our staffing we have about 15 officers that are both on bicycle and mounted police units to patrol the area," Caton said.

He said they're confident that staffing is enough as the night crowd picks up.

"As the bars open up and patrons start to come in, you'll see a lot of the bars will have details plus we'll have a roving patrol inside of the Banks area," Caton said.

One fan who was at the Banks Thursday night said he's confident police would respond quickly if trouble broke out again.

"I could understand how some people are, but I feel like if something like that were to happen again, the Cincinnati police they handled it very well like we walked through it, I felt very safe," he said.

For families, Saturday was about keeping tradition and enjoying events like Kids Opening Day.

"We come to games probably a few times a season and we've never had an issue before, so we didn't think we were going to have any issues today," one family said.

Caton said a specific team of officers operates inside the Banks and has had a presence for the past month on weekends. He said they are hoping to increase that as it gets warmer and there are more events happening.