225 police officers help keep the peace in Amherst on the day of Blarney Blowout (3/7/15)
On March 7th -- to ensure peace and tranquility in neighborhoods adjacent to UMass -- Amherst police benefited greatly by use of the Western Mass Mutual Aid agreement, a pact signed back in September between Amherst and 26 other local departments.
The main reason Blarney Blowout became riotous over the previous couple years was a lack of boots on the ground dressed in blue.
North Pleasant Street 3/8/14
In 2014, the worst-of-the-worst year with 58 arrests, vastly outnumbered police had to rely on pepper balls and less gently methods of physical interaction with the alcohol fueled rowdy mobs. But this past year was different as night-and-day, or drunk-and-sober as the case may be.
Like traditional fire department mutual aid, which has been around forever, when a sudden emergency prompts a nearby city/town to call for police assistance, Amherst will simply respond with no expectation of reimbursement.
AFD Engine 2 and an ambulance responded to Northampton Hotel fire on Tuesday
That of course works both ways, as someday that same department may respond to Amherst when the need arises.
Since Blarney Blowout was a "long standing incident or pre-planned event" APD (the "receiving party") was responsible for reimbursing responding departments, a $30,910 cost picked up by UMass.
The 60 State Police officers used that day did not require reimbursement, and APD Chief Livingstone does not anticipate mutual aid will be required (other than normal paid traffic details) for UMass graduation next week.
