Baltimore official: The curfew worked, the city is stable

UPDATE: Baltimore police made only 10 arrests last night as a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew kept most people off the streets. A few protestors gathered at the site of Monday’s violent riot as the curfew deadline came and went. When police advance toward them, ordering them to go home, some threw bottles and bricks but eventually scattered.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said one person was arrested for looting and another for disorderly conduct.

“The curfew is, in fact, working,” Batts said during a news conference. “Citizens are safe. The city is stable. We hope to maintain it that way.”

Morning rush hour proceeded as normal, and the city’s students prepared to head back to class after a day off school.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (April 28, 9:30 p.m. EDT): The streets of Baltimore were tense but mostly calm as tonight’s 10 p.m. curfew neared. More than 2,000 National Guard troops and 1,000 police officers will patrol the streets to keep peace.

Although police intend to enforce the curfew, Baltimore police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said they would do so with discretion.

“Our officers have discretion, which means if we see you and you explain you just got off of an airplane and you’re headed home, they have the ability to exercise discretion and they don’t have to arrest you,” he said, adding, “This is about preserving the public peace.”

During last night’s riots, during which people protesting 25-year-old Freddie Gray’s death burned cars, looted stores, and threw anything they could get their hands on at police. The violence erupted several hours after Gray’s funeral ended, despite his family’s pleas for peaceful demonstrations.

Gray died last week after being injured while in police custody. An investigation into the incident is ongoing, but officials have not said what happened to severely injure Gray’s spinal chord while he was in the back of a police van.

After a relatively peaceful day, the city is poised to get back to business tomorrow. Baltimore schools will reopen and all extracurricular activities will proceed as normal, school officials said. But one thing will be far from normal. The Baltimore Orioles cancelled tonight’s game and announced tomorrow’s game will not be open to the pubic, a possible first in baseball’s 145-year history.

Earlier today, volunteers from all across Baltimore came to the scene of the riots to clean up the glass- and debris-strewn streets.

“We’re helping the neighborhood build back up,” said volunteer Blanca Tapahuasco. “This is an encouragement to them to know the rest of the city is not just looking on and wondering what to do.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.