As a resident of the greater Boston area I confess I’ve gotten a little bit spoiled, sports wise. In the last few years, the Boston Celtics, The Boston Redsox, and The New England Patriots have all won national championships, some of them more than once. Of course, our hockey team doesn’t do so well, but every pack needs an Omega Wolf.
Anyway, there is a phenomenon that we often see here of late, which is an impromptu gathering of large crowds on the streets of Boston whenever one of our teams wins a big sporting event. And consistently, the city and the local law-enforcement agencies approach this outpouring of emotion as a negative event. Anywhere near the venue of the team, even if they are playing an away game, parking is banned and the streets are lined with baton-wielding helmeted riot squad police officers, not to mention those mounted on horses. In the controlling and repressing the energy of the crowds, we have had two deaths in the past few years.
I don’t want to tell them their business, but in my opinion these events are being handled all wrong. There are concert promoters and event planners throughout the country who would give their eyeteeth to get that many people excited about coming out to some kind of an event. And huge gatherings of people happen all the time. They don’t have riot squad police at the tailgating events at football games . . . Yet there are just as many people . . . So instead of always assuming the worst and repressing that energy, why not take a lesson from the book of jujitsu and merely guide it?
For example, it seems to me that a riot squad of any large city ought to have a transportable stage and PA system. When a hundred thousand people pour into the street, this is a ready-made audience, and they can be easily controlled, not with tear gas, but with an emcee of even modest talent. And when you want them to disperse after a few cheers and hurrahs, all you have to do is bring out a barbershop quartet to sing the Whiffenpoof song. The end. You think I’m kidding?
Rows and rows of uniformed police on horseback are interesting . . . so much so that they actually encourage the crowd to stay. Tear gas, even if it may be directed at you, is dramatic and interesting . . and this encourages the crowd to hang around. You want a crowd to disperse? All you need is a lousy karaoke singer on a portable stage.
Nowadays, with the general lack of understanding of performance skill and crowd management, people panic way too soon. At big concerts, the police are more in charge of crowd management than the performers. But police, unfortunately, are not entertainers. Their job is to suppress acts of violence and mayhem. So it’s fair of them to expect violence and mayhem if they are being called to the scene of an event. Suppressing violence is what they do. They are paid to look at large crowds as a source of potential violence and mayhem. And in the process of doing that, sometimes violence is accidentally incited in response. Crowds are very obliging entities. They will do what they think is expected of them. That’s why "applause" signs work so well.
Unfortunately, instead of calm understanding, everywhere you go it seems there’s a presumption of the worst case scenario. We are taught to fear everyone and everything, and especially each other. There’s always a presumption that the worst possible thing is what human beings will sink to unless we proactively prevent it at the start. I don’t buy it. Crowds are incredibly predictable, and to be afraid of a crowd is a sign of ignorance.
When I played the Bicentennial concert with Arthur Fiedler back in 1976, the "security" system completely broke down in the face of half a million people in the park. The crowds broke through the sawhorse restraints and gathered right at the edge of the stage. This was a "security" disaster but nothing bad happened. They weren’t looking to hurt anybody or cause any damage. They just wanted to feel the tribal unity. And it was a truly beautiful event.
Sure, you need cops and bouncers for the occasional idiot who drinks too much and gets out of hand. But that’s one in a thousand or less. For the rest, gimme a microphone.
©Justin Locke
www.justinlocke.com
