A Public Nuisance

Mullins Center: A giant drain on Amherst public safety

Last Thursday night for a three hour period all five Amherst ambulances were stuck in a continuous loop between the UMass Mullins Center, a state owned entertainment venue, and the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, transporting 14 drug or alcohol overdose "victims," leaving AFD helpless to protect the town against medical emergencies requiring an ambulance.

These days the AFD is busy enough as it is.

Two months ago when the Mullins Center hosted a Rusko concert the results were almost as bad, with 8 patient transports in a very short period tying up all five ambulances.

This Saturday Amherst, UMass and State Police are on high alert for end of semester party hijinks.  Extravaganja, extolling the virtues of marijuana, is expected to attract 5,000 pot patrons to the town common.  Ominously, the Mullins Center is once again promoting a "performance"--Fantazia-- that appears to be tailor made to produce drug and alcohol overdoses.

A "360 degree dance experience" means folks will be engaged in physical exertion, combined with a tad too much alcohol or drugs in a warm venue under pulsating lights can quickly lead to medical problems.  

AFD will have 9 professional firefighters on during the day (normal staffing is 7) increased to 11 as darkness descends (three of them stationed at the Mullins Center) with an additional medic riding along with APD. Chief Nelson and Assistant Chief's Stromgren and McKay will also be hovering.

Still, the centre may not hold.

Terrifying enough we routinely play Russian roulette with a single round in the chamber, on Saturday night there may be as many as three.  Click, click...

Love Hurts

In addition to the federally funded "Cops in Shops" program that places undercover police officers in local package stores to nab underage youth with fake IDs, perhaps APD should initiate a bartender program in the downtown to catch over consumption of alcohol and even more important, provide therapy.

3:06 AM, early Sunday morning (in the pouring rain):

Two females were observed under the overhang of Moti.  Both were crying and visually upset.  I stopped to inquire if any issues existed?  One of the two females was scheduled to be married soon and tonight was her  bachelorette party.  The wedding, however, was called off tonight by the groom.  They were very upset.  A curtsey transportation was provided.

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APD scores a $55,000 state grant

Party Central Report

Unlike last weekend, when Amherst Police handed out seventeen $300 noise tickets, this past weekend was, according to detective Dave Foster, "remarkably quiet," with only six noise warnings and three $300 nuisance house tickets issued to one location at 16 North Hadley Road...although the same three individuals were also arrested for underage possession of liquor.

Perhaps it was a recovery pause after the blow out Patriots Day long weekend that included two drunk driving arrests, the death of a 24 year old motorcyclist from a wrong way driver, and a massive party at Puffers Pond that left the recreation area looking like a garbage truck exploded.

Police were of course pro active, with every available officer on duty.  They also arrested almost as many college aged youths as last week for underage drinking/open container violations, 24 this weekend ($7,200 worth of fines) vs 25 last week.  And unfortunately, like last week, two drunk drivers.

On Saturday early afternoon police called a landlord to inform him a party was brewing at one of his rentals.  According to police logs they then:  "Returned to speak with residence and advised them that our response there was imminent and that if called we would be taking enforcement action.  After being advised of options, parties decided to have an alcohol free picnic with 500 pounds of steak and lobster to eat."

Later around midnight College Street residents called APD to help assist with removal of "unwanted guests."  And police were only too happy to assist, removing "Approximately 80-100 from house and yard.  No problems, cleared with full cooperation of residents."

The weather was not a factor in the more civilized behavior, as the rain held off until almost midnight Saturday.  And the DPW did not spike the water supply with tranquilizers.  Maybe--just maybe--the civility sermon is getting through.  Maybe.


AFD: calm after the Thursday night Mullins Center fiasco

Amherst Sustains (a little)

Although not nearly as well attended as the annual Extravaganja (coming up next week) the Amherst Sustainability Festival attracted a diverse--albeit--small, hardy crowd to the Town Common.  As did the coinciding seasonal debut of the Amherst Farmers Market, now returned to the original Spring Street Parking lot, their home for the past 39 years.

DPW completed Spring Street reconstruction just in the nick of time

W.D. Cowls distributed tree seedlings

 Cinda (Jones) the Friendly Bear (Jada, not so sure)

And of course no Amherst Town Common event is without politics

Now we're talking!

APD downtown Amherst

Town Manager John Musante just tweeted (yes, he's on Twitter) about his "ride along" with APD last night.  Now we have to get him, like his predecessor Larry Shaffer, to start blogging--or at the very least get on Facebook--to give us the "who, what, when, where, why and how."

And of course, do a ride along with AFD.

John Musante ‏ @AmherstMusante

Rode along with Amherst Police Friday night. APD's unsung heroes working to keep us all safe. Thank you. #amherstma #westernma

• 1 Retweet
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He picked a good night, as it sounded from scanner traffic like an all too typical frisky Friday.  State police also set up a DUI roadblock in Hadley and bagged five potential killers on the road (out of 500 cars checked, or 1%).  And the Daily Hampshire Gazette issued a rather stern editorial today about the slobfest at Puffers Pond on Patriots Day.

The tide is turning...

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A few hours after I posted this a "newbie" posted the following over on UMasshoops, a fanboy listserve that is having a lively discussion (for a change) on the whole UMass party hardy culture in view of the recent Puffers Pond incident.  This is priceless:

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:46 pm    Post subject:
"As a student who attends this fine university, I can safely say that there is just about nowhere any students can go to have a good time and drink. Even the bars as I have read in this thread are kept at half capacity by the fire dept. It's honestly getting pretty ridiculous how often cops are around. I have seen two cops on horses just sitting around on campus walking home from class on a Monday afternoon. For what? Its becoming a zero tolerance police state around here and honestly it sucks. I understand they are trying to change the image of the school but at what cost? Students are becoming increasingly annoyed with this university in more ways than one but I'll stick to this topic. I am sure most posters on this board are UMass alums and I am also sure many of your fondest memories of UMass were partying on the weekends. I know that is the case for my father. He doesn't tell me stories about sitting in class and he turned out just fine. Why try to end the one of the best things this school has going for it? The reason situations like Puffers Pond happen is because once we get a little freedom a chance to let loose we do it or else we miss our chance. This weekend they literally shut down streets and there was a cop just hanging out at the back of Puffers Pond. Where does this all end"

Fireground: University Drive

AFD Chief Tim Nelson on the scene

Amherst Fire Department responded to a dryer fire around 1:00 PM at the Laundry Club on University Drive.  Fire is out.   The entire building was shut down for about an hour.

Smoke gets in your eyes

Ladder Truck 1 and Engine 2, a pumper, responded to the scene

A Justified Response

Tyler Davidson, just after assaulting an officer

Forty years of martial arts training--38 of them as a black belt--makes me intimately familiar with  justifiable use of force.  This YouTube video purported to be "4 cops beating the shit out of a UMass student for no reason" during the Meadow Street Mayhem last Saturday afternoon is a perfect example...Of what is justifiable.

First of all they are Amherst Police Department officers, not UMass--although both departments are highly trained.  What the camera does not show is 1,000 other students on the quad that sunny afternoon, or the perp's physical provocation towards police in the moments leading up to his arrest. Or the previous calls to APD for help at the scene dealing with loud noise, thrown bottles, and drunken fistfights.

What I find more interesting in this juvenile report published on Barstoolsports.com, is not so much the attempt to discredit APD (or UMPD) by whipping up sympathy for a drunken fool who deserves to be expelled from school, but the email to tenants from a landlord who seems to be feeling the public pressure to tighten the way he runs his housing ship.

Even more interesting, it was Kendrick Property Management who first called 911 to warn of a large gathering coming together in the quad area of Townhouse Apartments that Saturday afternoon, an apartment complex they manage.

The mayhem over Patriots Day weekend included not only this incident but far more serious ones: two drunken driving arrests, passed out drunk students overwhelming our emergency services by tying up all five ambulances simultaneously, and the horrific accident on the Amherst/Hadley line that took the life of a 24 year old UMass student (and a Amherst resident) about to graduate, killed by a wrong way driver.

And of course the slobfest of 1,000 college aged youths (code for UMass students) taking over Puffers Pond and leaving in their wake a boatload of debris.  Just how to do you think most of those kids made it back to their dwellings after that pernicious public party early Monday night?

Our roads are not safe (cue Jim Morrison, "There's a killer on the road"); our neighborhoods not conducive to raising families!  And it's only going to get worse over the next three or four weekends.  The Amherst Select Board, our highest ranking elected public officials, needs to act.  Now.

Request District Attorney Dave Sullivan coordinate with State Police, APD, and UMPD a Driving Under the Influence roadblock in Amherst, near UMass, before graduation.

Request Senator Stan Rosenberg and Representative Ellen Story file state legislation to allow local municipal bylaw fine violations (noise, nuisance, alcohol) be increased to a maximum of $500 from the current $300.

Issue a sternly worded statement to the local media--especially the Mass Daily Collegian--giving voice to the outrage.

Even Fanboys on UmassHoops.com are starting to get it

Editors Note; UMass is the #3 employer in Western Massachusetts and has been Amherst's #1 employer for over 100 years. Every September Amherst is blessed to have thousands of exuberant new consumers flock to the University for the first time.  99% of UMass students are industrious, mature, decent individuals driving on the road to success. It's the 1% you read about here. And they need to change their act.