Hey, there! Log in / Register
Report from the police cordon
By adamg on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 10:55am
Victoria Welch was outside Gate B when the police moved in en masse and turned the area around Fenway into a private party for people lucky/rich enough to have tickets to the game:
... The scene in a nutshell: swamped with SWAT. We watched as a line of riot-geared officers two-wide, at least 25 rows deep, marched by. We were told by officers standing in the shadow of the Ted Williams statue by Gate B that we weren't allowed to take photos (right after we captured the image taken above). The police presence was intimidating - precisely the response we imagine that police officials were hoping to achieve. ...
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Yeah adam, that was the plan
Yeah adam, that was the plan last night - not to prevent death, injury, or property damage, but to secure a private party for the rich people. You seem like a pretty intelligent person, but that is a strange interpretation of what the police where doing.
Ridiculous, imo.
This post smacks of outright paranoia, imho. First of all, cops are there for a reason--they're needed to maintain some order around. Secondly, it sounds like they had ample reason for prohibiting photo-taking...that can be very distracting and disruptive for players and other fans alike, when flash is used. Thirdly, while it's true that there are rogue cops who do abuse their power and need to be brought to justice and disciplined/dismissed from the force as/if necessary, for the most part, one shouldn't feel paranoid or worried about cops being around unless s/he plans on doing mischief, in which case a person deserves to get into trouble.
Private versus Public Property Issues here...
Secondly, it sounds like they had ample reason for prohibiting photo-taking...that can be very distracting and disruptive for players and other fans alike, when flash is used.
Yes, season ticket holders OUTSIDE the park on a PUBLIC street might get distracted. Oh horrors.
I lived in Kenmore Square in '86 and the cops were more than big enough jerks during that world series - they wouldn't let residents into the area even when they could prove where they lived, all because of purported emergency powers (never mind that Gov Dukakis never declared such a "Baseball Emergency").
Now the current crop of little Beasty Boyz and Girlz and their right to party and all has given them new reason to go HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT. Swell.
Nope: I'm not talking about OUTSIDE the park on a public street
I'm talking about inside the arena.
photo-taking inside Fenway
Even though flash can indeed be distracting to players, I've never heard of a ban on it in Fenway.
I don't get what makes
I don't get what makes police think they can or should prohibit public photography. There's no legal basis for it, and it doesn't make any sense unless they've got something to hide.
Picture-taking, for the most part, is not prohibited in public.
However, I believe that there are certain situations where it's perfectly legal to prohibit picture-taking, and baseball and basketball games, as well as theatres and cinemas definitely fall into that category for obvious reasons: Flash can be extremely distracting, disruptive and distressing to both players and other fans/audience alike.
People Take Pictures At Games All the Time
Next time Papelbon pitches, watch the hundreds and hundreds of flashbulbs that go off every time he goes into his windup.
Besides, as folks have mentioned, this is about restricting the picture-taking OUTSIDE, on the street outside the ballpark.
but that's all on private
but that's all on private property. I think we're talking about taking pictures of the police on public roads here.
Police don't want to be photographed. they don't want to be liable for their actions when they get caught in the "heat of the moment".
While the officer didn't take the time to explain it to me...
...I'm feeling pretty confident that it was the fact that I was taking photographs of police officers that prompted the "No photos!" call from outside Gate B. I've never had problems snapping images of the park before, and I wasn't using flash.
My thought? If you want to make sure that your presence is known, don't freak out when someone's documenting that with a camera.
A few rotten apples
The few rotten apples who cannot handle a nice celebration ruin it for Boston fans.
I wish I could find the article but I recall in 2004 they referred to a poll that something like 80% of incoming college students expect to involved in couch-burning/car-tipping riots during their college experience. (Obviously I am paraphrasing but the point was along those lines).
Its terrible that people cannot just run around a hug (nope, those are banned in schools) and celebrate but Fenway's proximity to major college campuses prevents a normal spirited (not alcohol induced) celebration.
Moreover,
if the few rotten apples aren't put in their place, they can and often enough will taint the whole barrel.
Makes you wonder, when you
Makes you wonder, when you stop and think of it, how the only person ever killed at these so called "riots", was done so by the cops.
I'm not a police hater, but I'd rather see them policing the trouble makers, then antagonizing everyone else while shutting down half the city. Anything bad happen in Dorchester last night?
When you have this sort of standoffish approach, naturally the one-up-antie starts, with the fan angry they're being pushed around, getting angrier, as the police get more physical, ect and so on. It seems like this year they were much more soft in the way they handled the crowd, so props. I'd still think teams of plain clothes officers arresting lawbreaks and transporting them to a station set up outside the perimeter would work much better. A lot of us fans love to revel in the nations community, but we also don't like getting bottles throw at us any more then we like getting shot by pepper bullets.
Bzzt, sorry, wrong answer
Or have you forgotten that guy who died during a drunken Patriots riot in 2004? Also in Kenmore Square, and also involving large numbers of college students unable to handle their liquor. Only that time, the problem was there wasn't enough police presence on the streets (which led to overreaction the next time out - and the sad death of Victoria Snelgrove).
Wasn't he killed by a drunk driver from out of town ....
... who was not a Northeastern student at all? I don't see how anyone can blame Northeastern students for that.
Remember the guy's defense
It was basically that drunken "fans" were trying to turn the car over - with him inside - and he panicked while trying to escape.
Bedlam after win leaves death, injuries, destruction:
Not in Kenmore Square
He was killed down by NU. Snelgrove's death was more a result of the 2004 DNC than the Super Bowl celebrations.
Cops vs. fans: plenty of fault on both sides, imo:
Granted, there are rogue cops who're out of control, who flagrantly abuse their power, and therefore
need to be brought to justice and disciplined/dismissed from force as need be, and I'm supportive of that. Yet, one must bear in mind that cops are needed.
With regards to the fans, however, while it's true that the majority of the fans are just out to enjoy themselves, celebrate, have a good time, and don't riot or flip over people's cars or whatever, there are, unfortunately fans who are clearly bent on raising hell, being destructive and causing all kinds of mischief, and they have to be dealt with as necessary. When people like that get out of hand and the cops end up being tougher and sometimies getting overzealous in the process, often the troublemakers are quick to cry out "police brutality", when in fact, they've brought it on themselves. Unfortunately, the more disruptive, destructive fans make it much more difficult for the others, which, all too often, can and does lead to cop overreaction ranging from unnecessary roughing up of innocent fans to incidents such as the tragic, untimely death of Victoria Snelgrove, the young woman who was shot to death with a projectile(d) pepperball.
It's agreed also, however that better training in crowd control should also be made mandantory so that things like the Victoria Snelgrove incident don't ever happen again.
Not true
boston.com/news/local/...nothing_makes_sense/
a night of celebration ended in the death of 21-year-old James D. Grabowski.
It was not a cop who was drunk driving. This happened a very short distance from Fenway.
Don't forget about the destruction of property that these 'celebrating fans' cause. Remember they were tearing down the street lights?
I am sure his parents would applaud the police action.
It was clearly not true THIS time, however,
just as often as not, it is.
The death of James D. Grabowski was another tragic..albeit untimely occurrence. The fact that he died so young, not to mention so needlessly is a more unfortunate aspect of it.
Anonymous, what you just pointed out about some fans acting destructive and disruptive, as well as some ordinary college students doing likewise, is exactly the point that I've been trying to drive home to you and everybody else here on this board.
I thought the use of animals
I thought the use of animals (horses, dogs) was too much. The only sign of possible violence I saw was the chanting of "kenmore square" by the police barrier on blandford street.