I have 3823 "chips" for fight rewards--upgrades all done. Now what are they for?

I have massive amounts of these gems. My town is 'Felons Gone Wild'. Everytime my game crashes (frequently), more felons are released. I get a pop up that says that I can't have any more than 12 groups in my town, but a few minutes ago the fist icon in the upper right corner read 15. Some are walking around not in groups with no icon over their head. I have 17 fighters, all upgraded and can't keep up. :shock: