How many police calls were made to 3 a.m. Springfield bars since 2022? We break down the data
In a crowded city council chamber last month, Clique bar co-owner Josh Delcour spoke against an amendment for 3 a.m. bars to close two hours earlier. Delcour said 40 to 55 percent of the bar's revenue is made from 1 to 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The amendment to chapter 90, article III of the 1988 city code passed on June 18 in an 8-2 vote, ending liquor sales for all bars at 2 a.m. at the price of $100 more annually to operate.
More: Springfield City Council votes to end 3 a.m. alcohol sales—with one major change
Public safety was cited as a main reason to end alcohol sales an hour earlier.
The State Journal-Register filed a Freedom of Information Act request and collected data to see how many calls were made to police after 1 a.m., and what the calls were for since 2022.
Here's what we found.
Information covered
The 3 a.m. bars with reports pulled were The Alamo on North Fifth Street, The Gin Mill on South Fifth Street, Clique on East Washington Street, Celtic Mist Pub on South Seventh Street and Unique’s Bar & Grill on East Cook Street.
Information gathered from the Springfield Police Department included the dates and times of service calls made, detail and if an arrest was made.
Overview of report findings
Over 300 calls were made across the five bars in two and a half years, close to a call every 3 days.
Unique’s Bar & Grill: 209 service calls made
The Alamo: 78 service calls made
Clique: 22 service calls made
Celtic Mist: 21 service calls made
The Gin Mill: 1 service call made
The Gin Mill, serving craft beers and cocktails in a speakeasy vibe, only had one call made since 2022; a welfare check which ended up without an arrest.
Nineteen arrests were made since 2022, with 13 taking place at Unique’s Bar & Grill primarily for suspicious vehicles.
Each bar has been broken down for readers into section by type of call made and number of calls.
The Gin Mill was not included, due to only one service call in recent history.
The Alamo
Clique
Celtic Mist
Unique’s Bar & Grill
Premise checks at Unique’s almost doubled all other bars combined. A large contributor to the other category includes suspicious persons reports, suspicious vehicles and patrol investigations.
Call volume by year
Clique, Celtic Mist and Unique’s had a spike in service calls through 2023, up from the previous year. For instance, Unique’s jumped from 73 calls in 2022 to 110 in 2023, while Clique went up from five to 13.
Celtic Mist has been on a gradual climb since 2022, and has had 13 calls in the past 6 months made to the bar.
At the same time, one bar has seen a drop in police calls from 2022 to 2024. The Alamo had an almost 50 percent drop from 49 calls in 2022, to 25 calls in 2023.
Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for The State Journal-Register. She can be reached at [email protected]; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Breaking down police calls to 3 a.m. bars in Springfield since 2022
