More Chuck E. Cheese Trouble

Chuck E. Cheese is the place "where a kid can be a kid."

At the location in the Town of Brookfield, it's where adults are out of control.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Five years after Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant hired private security because of excessive calls to police about disturbances, officers are making even more trips for fights and other problems at the children's party restaurant.

Invariably, restaurant officials say, it's the adults, not out-of-control children, causing the worst problems at the restaurant.

"We expect kids to fight at Chuck E. Cheese, but it's the parents," company spokeswoman Brenda Holloway said.

The Town of Brookfield Police responded to the location at 19125 W. Blue Mound Road 81 times since the beginning of 2007, according to police records. Fifteen of those calls involved serious fights, battery or disorderly conduct in progress. The remaining calls included responses for thefts, 911 hang-ups, accidents and other traffic-related matters.

Police were there another 15 times just to walk through the restaurant and parking lot to ensure peace, something the department started doing after another wave of incidents in 2003. There were 40 police responses to the restaurant that year.

Holloway contends the number of fights have actually decreased since security guards, some of whom carry guns, have been added to the payroll for the busy weekends at some Chuck E.Cheese's throughout the country.

"There are a few scattered fights," Holloway said of the 533 restaurants in the United States and Canada. In a perfect world, there would be no fights at a place with the slogan of "Where a kid can be a kid" and the company is baffled by any fighting in the restaurant, she said.

"We don't want that reputation," Holloway said. The publicly traded chain is owned by CEC Entertainment Inc., based in Irving, Texas.

The pizza and Whack-a-Mole games bring high-spirited children's birthday parties in droves to Chuck E. Cheese's, which also serves alcohol to adults.

Town of Brookfield Capt. Tim Imler said he couldn't say for certain that the alcohol is the source of the problem. It may be a matter of too many people in one location, he said.

A place with games and food that caters to kids should not need armed security guards.

I don't think alcohol should be served there. I doubt that the alcohol is causing the problems, but it's probably not helping.

I don't buy Imler suggestion that the fights could be the result of too many people in one location.

That doesn't make sense. Mobs of people gather at other places and events without this high level of problems.

..."It appears the company is trying to make improvements to create a family-friendly environment but, unfortunately, being open to the public, there is only so much control of who walks through their door," Imler said.

On April 4, police responded to a fight inside the restaurant involving up to 40 people yelling and pushing each other, according to police reports. It was chaos when police arrived. Officers called for mutual aid from the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department and the City of Brookfield. No one would come forward to say who instigated the incident, so there were no arrests.

When town officials first expressed concern about the calls to Chuck E. Cheese's five years ago, they asked the company to hire its own security. That was done.

Then on Feb. 17, 2007, police responded to Chuck E. Cheese's for a fight involving 15 to 20 people. When police arrived, the security guard was standing in the parking lot pointing a gun at 15 people, mostly children ages 6 to 16, lying on the ground. Police allowed the children to sit in their cars until officers could talk to them.

The fight started when one group told another group to be more careful while playing the games because a 1-year-old child was nearly hit by a ball. Words were exchanged between the groups and one person was "getting in people's faces," police reports say. No one was arrested, but one man was given a ticket alleging he lied to officers about his name.

Following that incident, the Town of Brookfield police told Chuck E. Cheese's they could not have armed guards, Imler said. The town has an ordinance that requires a permit for armed security, which the restaurant did not have.

What?

FIVE years ago, town officials told Chuck E. Cheese to get security guards; and it wasn't until an incident in 2007 that someone realized armed guards at the place were in violation of an ordinance. That's nuts.

This entire thing is really sad.

I feel sorry for the kids being raised by violent parents who can't control themselves.

It's not so much that the Chuck E. Cheese in the Town of Brookfield isn't a place where a kid can be a kid. The adults have turned it into a place where a kid can't be kid.

My guess is the kids whose parents or guardians are acting out at Chuck E. Cheese aren't exactly having an idyllic childhood.

What are the odds that these children will grow up to be law-abiding citizens and productive members of society?