Two weeks after brawling teens turned Havre de Grace?s Independence Day celebration into a small-scale riot, the City Council concluded the carnival may have outgrown the small town?s ability to police and control it.

Only three or four officers from the Havre de Grace Police Department were patrolling a crowd of thousands July 2, when fights broke out in the final hours of the annual carnival and Independence Day celebration, said Councilman Garrett Lyttle. Communication between officers on the ground and police at the station was spotty and hindered by noise, and the crowd was far too large to control, he said.