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Photo Mary Ann Bragg
Complaints made against police in Provincetown on July 4th center around two incidents, one involving South Wellfleet resident John Brimmer, shown here with 10 stitches in his head. |
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Police to jointly review July 4th
Selectmen will take slower approach on next year’s plans
By Mary Ann Bragg & Kaimi Rose Lum
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — Police will convene a review board to investigate and clarify what occurred here the night of July 4th, following the detention of nearly 40 people for crowd control.
At a Town Hall meeting last Thursday concerns were raised about the use of tear gas and stun guns on July 4th, the failure of public safety officers to identify themselves and the handling of photographers. A description of one young man’s head hitting the pavement — that of John Brimmer of South Wellfleet — when he was apprehended in front of Town Hall echoed through the words of a handful of young people.
“The real issue is police brutality,” resident Tom Hartocollis said near the end of the meeting. “I think what happened that night was appalling. On both sides people got out of control. I do think we need to find out what happened on the streets that night.”
About 30 people spoke at the meeting, in what was a true mix of opinions. A call was made for July 4th fireworks to be moved to Thanksgiving, and for a greater availability of public restrooms after the fireworks. Many people were supportive of local police and the need to control what was an estimated crowd of 2,000 rowdy youths in front of Town Hall. Police Chief Ted Meyer tended to place blame on out-of-town groups, mentioning Brockton specifically. Others blamed out-of-town police officers, saying the state police and sheriff’s deputies are unfamiliar with local mores. A handful of business owners said they rely on income generated by July 4th crowds, but encouraged earlier police monitoring of drinking in the streets and more activist behavior from shop-owners themselves.
Meyer convened the meeting and was joined by fire and building department supervisors and four selectmen. Representatives of the town’s two business groups at the meeting agreed to poll their members about alternatives for next July 4th. Options could include coordinating with other Cape Cod towns to jointly produce fireworks on July 4, to relieve the crush of the estimated 60,000 people into Provincetown.
Longtime resident Steve Roderick, who is also the Provincetown Business Guild president, said his walk through the center of town this year on Independence Day was unlike any he’s seen in 20 years in terms of foul language and drunkenness. Deputy Fire Chief Warren Alexander, another longtime resident, warned that the town was becoming too much of a “party” town. “We getting beyond our resources,” Alexander said.
Alexander said the seven to 10 drug overdose emergencies, two Outer Cape car accidents and a death on July 4th created an awkward reliance on emergency services from more than 30 miles away. Alexander also said that of the six ambulances serving the towns of Provincetown and Truro, only four were available throughout the day due to mechanical problems.
On Monday the Board of Selectmen decided to take a measured approach to determining the fate of next year’s July 4th celebration, despite chair Cheryl Andrew’s call this week for the fireworks to end. The board will begin the discussion on Monday, Aug. 8.
The selectmen also voted to send letters of thanks to the state police and the county sheriff’s deputies for their service on July 4th, as this week the town police department began to sort out exactly what did happen. The review board will convene this week and be composed of members of the state police, the sheriff’s department and town police, Staff Sgt. Warren Tobias said this week. (Police Chief Meyer is on vacation.)
Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said on Tuesday that his office has not been asked to become involved in investigating the July 4th events, and former Cape & Islands prosecutor Monica Kraft of Truro, who was circulating a petition at the Town Hall meeting last week, declined to state her intentions on the record on Tuesday.
The state troopers had 11 officers in town on July 4th. There were 10 county deputies and 15 full-time and summer town police officers.
In answering questions about police equipment deployed on the crowd, all three police agencies this week disavowed use of electric stun guns and tear gas during the fighting and subsequent arrests. The state police and county sheriff’s department officers were armed with pepper spray only, rather than tear gas, representatives from those two agencies said on Monday. “I really don’t want to comment on any of that kind of stuff,” Staff Sgt. Tobias said this week also, acknowledging that part of the review board’s goals is to identify what equipment had actually been used that night on citizens.
The police department here authorizes its officers to use pepper spray but not electric stun guns.
State police spokesperson Sgt. Scott Range also said that his department’s officers, as a matter of policy, are instructed to give both their names, current duty assignment and badge numbers when requested. Exceptions can and are made, Range said, if doing so is necessary for the performance of an officer’s duty or is authorized by a senior trooper. For example, Range said, withholding such information might occur while an officer is physically restraining a person. “The badge number is on the badge so if they got close enough to ask, they can see the badge number,” Range added.
Sheriff James Cummings said on Monday that his deputies do not have badge numbers but do have nametags on their uniforms, which can be plainly seen by a citizen requesting that information.
Cummings also acknowledged that one of his deputies was shown in a photo in the Banner last week attempting to block a photographer from recording an arrest. “There are a lot officers that wouldn’t want their pictures on websites that are out there,” Cummings said. “If it’s a recognized news media then okay. But just because officers are out there, should they be susceptible to having their photos used, on an anti-public safety website?”
As for blaming out-of-town youths, Tobias acknowledged that only one of the 24 people arrested on July 4-5 was from Brockton, with most of those detained being from towns not more than 30 miles from Provincetown.
“It’s really up to town officials to make better judgment on who they bring into our town for law enforcement,” South Wellfleet resident John Brimmer said over the weekend. “They should definitely at least brief them. It’s just absurd, the amount of police force there and the mentality. I don’t think it suited the Fourth of July.”
mabragg@provincetownbanner.com
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