Holiday Cheer (In A College Town)

Police pushed about 400 or so students off the quad area Amherst College

Amherst Police came to the assistance of Amherst College PD around midnight last night to clear out a large party in the quad area near Crossett Dorm which had, like last year, gotten out of hand.

The annual event, known as Crossett Christmas, attracts a bevy of off campus students from our other institutes of higher education.

And when you attract an extra few hundred college aged youth, mix in alcohol, loud music, and somewhat hospitable weather, things can quickly go wrong.

Amherst College PD:  If you see non AC students with backpacks and they will not let you inspect them, escort them off campus.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) December 7, 2014

So many fire alarms were pulled AFD ended up stationing a engine at the scene for well over an hour.

The crowd was never anywhere that of the Blarney Blowout (400 vs 4,000) and it only took ten minutes to disperse.  Umass Police also assisted with foot traffic as hundreds of youth ended up on busy Rt 9 walking back to town center to catch the PVTA buses.

 Engine 1 East entrance 11:30 PM

Engine 1 parked in front of Crossett Dorm

APD briefly staged at Orr Rink then moved in from the south

AFD ambulance had trouble getting through fleet of taxis that were coming and going