PITTSBURGH \u2014 The city\u2019s public safety director is weighing in on a large fight that broke out among a crowd of juveniles in Downtown Pittsburgh over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on what we see downtown, it\u2019s not acceptable,\u201d Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams told Channel 11. <\/p>\n
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Crowd of juveniles fighting in Market Square leads to pepper spray use, 3 taken into custody: police<\/a><\/p>\n Williams told Channel 11 he came down to Market Square yesterday, when he got word that dozens of kids were fighting with each other and spraying pepper spray. <\/p>\n The chaos comes weeks before the NFL Draft, when Market Square has been getting a renovation specifically for the event. <\/p>\n PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Market Square Modernization: First look at new shared streetscape, other updates on project<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhat I witnessed in those time frames were a bunch of kids who were just gathered, some of them were being kids, running around horseplaying and the like. As I watched that, I wanted to see the progression of the behavior so that I have a better understanding,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n According to Williams, there were approximately 80 kids in the area, and when officers tried to break up the crowd, the teens ignored them. That\u2019s when officers used their own pepper spray to move them out. <\/p>\n \u201cBased on what we see downtown, it\u2019s not acceptable. When it reaches those levels, it calls for a type of public safety response,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n Seven kids were taken into custody, and about 20 people were treated for exposure to the pepper spray. <\/p>\n Williams told Channel 11 that he\u2019s not ruling out the possibility of a curfew. <\/p>\n \u201cCurfews were tried in the past in the city of Pittsburgh, and just because the past opportunities didn\u2019t net the results we expected doesn\u2019t mean we wouldn\u2019t venture in that way. But we have to have good conversations about what we expect with our curfews,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n Download the FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>. | Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n \u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n