Police in riot gear drove people from the streets of Baltimore with teargas and smoke grenades on Tuesday night, after hundreds of protesters defied a 10pm curfew to continue demonstrating over the death of Freddie Gray.

Twenty-five minutes into the first of a week of city-wide lockdowns, officers in full body armour advanced on a crowd that had gathered throughout the day in the sunshine at an intersection in west Baltimore.

"If we go home tonight, there's going to be another Freddie Gray in the morning," said Devon Fields, 27, as he and a friend angrily resisted pleas to leave from protesters and politicians alike. Plastic and glass bottles, and a dinner plate, were thrown at police.

Officers quickly swept people westward with a brief bombardment of smoke, gas and pepper balls, which explode with an irritant. One teargas grenade thrown back by a protester landed on a pile of litter beside a library, igniting a small fire.

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At least 10 people were arrested after curfew, according to police commissioner Anthony Batts. Seven were detained in west Baltimore for breaking the curfew. Two were charged with looting and one for disorderly conduct away from the main protest. Another three or four were arrested earlier in the day for throwing rocks at officers in south Baltimore.

Batts declared the night a success after avoiding a repeat of the chaotic scenes of Monday night, when more than 200 people were arrested during hours of violent clashes. "Citizens are safe. The city is stable. We hope to maintain it that way," he said.

However, another mass confrontation was averted on Tuesday only thanks to members of the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs, who teamed with community activists to push hundreds more protesters, who had demonstrated late into the evening, back to their homes as the curfew loomed.