CHICAGO — The sight of Chicago police raising billy clubs against demonstrators Sunday was the kind of image that has dogged the city’s police force longer than most of those who clashed with protesters have been alive.

But Monday, a day after the clash during the NATO summit played out on television, virtually no one was talking about a “police riot,” as they did in 1968 when baton-wielding officers waded into crowds of demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention. Nor was there the kind of criticism that was leveled at the Seattle police after a violence-plagued 1999 international summit.

Protest leaders outside the venue where President Barack Obama was meeting with world leaders offered a harsh assessment of police tactics. But most others praised the police for their restraint, and in public, they performed mostly as Superintendent Garry McCarthy vowed they would, from their crowd-control tactics to their interactions with protesters.

“We got them trained and equipped, and they executed the plan on all levels,” McCarthy said, on the street Monday during a march outside Boeing Co. headquarters. “It hasn’t been that big of a deal, quite frankly. It’s almost like it was harder dealing with the hype than the event itself.”

Chicago police spokeswoman Carolyn Deming said late Monday that 90 people were arrested and eight officers were injured before and during the summit. Authorities said many of those arrested were released without charges being filed.

McCarthy, who literally stood behind his troops pointing and shouting orders during the worst clashes with protesters, said Chicago’s performance dealing with the protests was a “how-to” for other cities. “And that is to be patient and tolerant,” he said.

The assessment was shared by some who have studied the department and its history of brutality.

“I think they helped their reputation,” said Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor. “Generally speaking, the CPD seemed to exercise an extraordinary amount of restraint.”

From what can be assessed from publically available accounts, officers only used their batons in face-to-face confrontations with protesters pushing against police lines, what McCarthy called “assaults” on his officers. They used bicycles, both to escort protesters and as portable barricades. They employed intelligence gathering, starting long before the summit. That led to the arrests of five men on terror-related charges.

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