Boston PD Accepts Responsibility for Death of Student
It's not often that you see a major police department in the United States make such a statement of responsibility so soon after an incident such as the one that killed College Student Victoria Snelgrove during the celebrations in Boston after the Red Sox won the ALCS two days ago. Details from the Boston Globe:
The Boston Police Department "accepts full responsibility" for the death of a 21-year-old college student killed by a police projectile fired to disperse crowds celebrating the Boston Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees.
Preliminary findings indicate that Victoria Snelgrove, a journalism student at Emerson College, was hit in the eye by a projectile that disperses pepper spray on impact, Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole said Thursday.
Snelgrove died at 12:50 p.m. at Brigham and Women's Hospital, hours after the overnight melee.
"The Boston Police Department is devastated by this tragedy. This terrible event should never have happened," O'Toole told reporters. "The Boston Police Department accepts full responsibility for the death of Victoria Snelgrove."
I applaud the leadership of Boston PD for their handling of the aftermath of this incident....
Comments
I was at Fenway on that night, and when I heard of this story, it really made me wonder if law enforcement officers are overusing non-lethal weapons simply because they don’t consider them dangerous. In fact, non-lethal weapons have been known to kill people and do more harm than their intended good. Prior to the availability of such weapons, the use of deadly force would rarely, if ever, be considered against a rowdy crowd. Now that they’re in the hands of law enforcement officers across the nation, their widespread use may actually result in more crowd deaths than with conventional crowd control methods used in the past. Perhaps this event will lead to a redesign in non-lethal weapons, or more strict rules governing their use. Tell me what you think.
Posted by: Steve | October 23, 2004 04:21 PM
I was at the game, however due to the history of fans in the area I forced myself home because I was genuinely concerned about my life.
Beyond the weapons that police use (which is the "effect") I think we should look at the cause. There were six officers at the time and approximately 3000 people hurling bottles, small trees and sign posts. They crow encircled the officers. Officers were hit and that is on camera. A horse was also struck and one was startled.
I believe in the Sox and many players are making these public service announcements because fans are disappointing them. Who could blame them. For every action there is a reaction. As a fan I feel that the people destroying property and attacking officers killed Tori.
We win so we destroy our city, by uprooting signs, throwing garbage receptacles, sending objects through store fronts and threatening the public servants that are there to protect us? Boston has made the front pages all over the WORLD and it should have been ONLY because of our team. But no, the "fans" or should I appropriately term them, the Hooligans took care of that.
We should reconsider retaliation weapons, however they would not have even been utilized if it was not for the immature, idiotic, drunken stupor, moronic and barbaric behavior of destructive people that term themselves as fans and make the rest of us look bad.
I am saddened and ashamed of this behavior. One of our players said it best, "I would give up game 7 if it would bring her back."
THAT SAYS IT ALL
Posted by: Sara | October 23, 2004 10:35 PM
I'll be impressed by this admission of responsibility only when the appropriate consequences result from it. Talk is cheap. An eye for an eye.
Posted by: Chris | October 25, 2004 12:41 PM
The police are doing damage control because they've learned that no matter whose fault it was, the only way they will not get totally pummelled by the public and the press is just to say "we did it and we're sorry." Doesn't matter what really happened.
And no one knows what really happened.
Maybe the police WERE wrong...maybe not.
It is my contention on my blog http://codeblueblog.blogs.com/
that no one knows how Victoria Snelgrove died; and, in fact, I have pretty good scientific proof that she probably did NOT die from a projectile-to-eyeball mechanism
CodeBlueBlogMD
Posted by: CodeBlueBlogMD | October 25, 2004 06:07 PM