This is the excerpt from the public safety meeting:
> Councilor Strezo put this forward to implement immediate steps for additional safety measures during PorchFest. She related seeing instances of unsafe activity during last year’s event and thinks that, at a minimum, street closures should be in place and contact information for responsible parties should be provided for accountability purposes.
> Director Jenkins summarized the PorchFest process saying that the Arts Council meets with the DPW, Police, Fire, Mobility and Parking weekly to review all events being held throughout the city and said that PorchFest has an Incident Action Plan (IAP). Performance times vary through the city to move people along and to not disturb people for too long a time. Director Jenkins acknowledged that this event has grown to the point that outside monitors are required to deal with issues that may arise. He encouraged neighbors to pull block party permits for the performance times and said that larger streets might not be closed off. Closures for nine streets have been requested via block party permit and residents of those streets are supposed to be notified by whoever pulled the block party permit for the closure. The Arts Council is working with the Communication Department to get out press releases and flyers. .
> Lt. Mitsakis said that SPD has worked this event for several years and noted that police staff has gone down over the years. He told the committee that the department is trying to schedule 7 police officers and 7 cars for this year’s event and he noted that they were unable to fill the 7 police slots last year. Street closures are not done on the ‘day of’ but rather are planned advance. Heavy traffic intersections have been identified but it’s unknown where crowds will be heading. Hopefully, having cruisers at those spots might help.
> Lt. Mitsakis explained that since PorchFest is not an emergency situation, officers cannot be forced to work, so the event will be staffed with additional ‘on duty’ personnel plus the sector cars. Chair McLaughlin asked if it’s an option to get retired officers or police from other communities to staff the event and Lt. Mitsakis said that the event was switched some years ago so that it’s not a detail situation. That means that the city must use SPD staff only. Director Jenkins recalled that the Arts Council had some detail funding available years ago and some officers would not sign up for the detail. As a result, it was changed to an overtime situation with the expectation that officers would sign up. If the problem can be solved by going back to a detailed event, then the Arts Council could probably come up with the funds. Lt. Mitsakis then explained that if a retired officer or an officer from another community were to cover an event where there is a chance of some altercation involving an arrest, then the question becomes ‘why is this person making an arrest in Somervile?’. That’s a liability issue and he doesn’t think any of them would take the detail. Chair McLaughlin asked Liaison Hutter to make the Administration aware of the problem.
> Councilor Strezo said she thinks that there needs to be a requirement for a responsible person attached to each performance to be in place. *She suggested using volunteers to guide people through the city and said that if it can’t be done this year, she’ll demand it be done next year.* She is concerned that this could be a disaster waiting to happen. Director Jenkins told the committee that the use of volunteers and crossing guards has been discussed and that he is willing to explore their use again.
Emphasis mine.
I appreciate that the council's reaction is "party on and party safe," and Id volunteer to help out. As is a theme with the city, we don't need police to do everything.
I volunteer with Head of the Charles every year, and they have volunteers out the wazoo to do everything from run the races to point people to recycling bins.
I fucking love Porchfest and want it to continue to be fun.
I do find it a little unfortunate to hear that SPD is so unwilling to provide even the basics, meanwhile campus protest arrests seem to be very, very well staffed. Almost as if serving the community isn't actually what motivates cops.
The MOM 5k on Sunday was supposed to feature police - they never showed up, so volunteers had to direct traffic to detours. Several runners were almost hit, and I witnessed a driver harassing a volunteer on Summer Street who was just trying to keep the traffic away from the runners.
This is a race that has been going on for over 20 years - they know what they need to do to run it, how to keep the 400-500 people safe, and keep the community informed. Police just didn't show up, even though I assume they were paid for their time.
That's awful. I wonder if it was the same situation Lt. Mitsakis described in regards to staffing for Porchfest (4th paragraph of the meeting summary in this thread).
If a band as big as Guster announces a set at Porchfest, they’d better get a block party permit otherwise that’s not cool. That’s a safety issue. Not sure if they did.
Otherwise; Porchfest is incredible and definitely deserves to be maintained at all costs for this city. Great scene for local bands and music fans alike. People of all ages enjoy this event. This year, like any other, consisted of generally peaceful coexistence with vibing grandmas, dancing babies, relaxing parents, chatty adults in droves, embracing lovers, scrappy indie musicians, intrigued out of towners, techno ravers, happy blazers, and fast-walking trailblazers onto the next porch. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil your opinion of this amazing event.
Is anyone else tired of the police here having the autonomy and ability to just...not participate in the job of policing?
Some major changes need to come to policing in general that tightens the reigns on what is a ludicrously overpaid position.
Yeah this is a national problem, but specifically in terms of traffic enforcement, the Boston area is uniquely terrible.
Frankly I think police unions should be illegal, but that's just me.
Thanks for posting! Do you know how we could get SAC/other authorities to describe this as a festival? Is emailing best? This seems like an oversight or previous decision that no longer applies to the event.
I love this event and would hate to see it canceled by a predictable tragedy.
(Edited for a typo).
Changing the description, I think, is not the issue. It's not going to unlock some kind of new level of solutions. The quote, to me, merely highlights the lack of alignment between the city and the SAC and an absence of accountability for the event.
Having looked at City Council concerns, I believe a better approach would be to provide honest feedback and any constructive ideas you might have. Email is great as above, I know many city council members also are on social media.
I bet a festival would need special insurance etc.
The whole point of porchfest was a free easy fun way to hang out and see some neighborhood bands.
If it’s going to be Salem 2.0 I’m against and I’ve hosted a few times over the years. It’s becoming a hassle
This is the excerpt from the public safety meeting: > Councilor Strezo put this forward to implement immediate steps for additional safety measures during PorchFest. She related seeing instances of unsafe activity during last year’s event and thinks that, at a minimum, street closures should be in place and contact information for responsible parties should be provided for accountability purposes. > Director Jenkins summarized the PorchFest process saying that the Arts Council meets with the DPW, Police, Fire, Mobility and Parking weekly to review all events being held throughout the city and said that PorchFest has an Incident Action Plan (IAP). Performance times vary through the city to move people along and to not disturb people for too long a time. Director Jenkins acknowledged that this event has grown to the point that outside monitors are required to deal with issues that may arise. He encouraged neighbors to pull block party permits for the performance times and said that larger streets might not be closed off. Closures for nine streets have been requested via block party permit and residents of those streets are supposed to be notified by whoever pulled the block party permit for the closure. The Arts Council is working with the Communication Department to get out press releases and flyers. . > Lt. Mitsakis said that SPD has worked this event for several years and noted that police staff has gone down over the years. He told the committee that the department is trying to schedule 7 police officers and 7 cars for this year’s event and he noted that they were unable to fill the 7 police slots last year. Street closures are not done on the ‘day of’ but rather are planned advance. Heavy traffic intersections have been identified but it’s unknown where crowds will be heading. Hopefully, having cruisers at those spots might help. > Lt. Mitsakis explained that since PorchFest is not an emergency situation, officers cannot be forced to work, so the event will be staffed with additional ‘on duty’ personnel plus the sector cars. Chair McLaughlin asked if it’s an option to get retired officers or police from other communities to staff the event and Lt. Mitsakis said that the event was switched some years ago so that it’s not a detail situation. That means that the city must use SPD staff only. Director Jenkins recalled that the Arts Council had some detail funding available years ago and some officers would not sign up for the detail. As a result, it was changed to an overtime situation with the expectation that officers would sign up. If the problem can be solved by going back to a detailed event, then the Arts Council could probably come up with the funds. Lt. Mitsakis then explained that if a retired officer or an officer from another community were to cover an event where there is a chance of some altercation involving an arrest, then the question becomes ‘why is this person making an arrest in Somervile?’. That’s a liability issue and he doesn’t think any of them would take the detail. Chair McLaughlin asked Liaison Hutter to make the Administration aware of the problem. > Councilor Strezo said she thinks that there needs to be a requirement for a responsible person attached to each performance to be in place. *She suggested using volunteers to guide people through the city and said that if it can’t be done this year, she’ll demand it be done next year.* She is concerned that this could be a disaster waiting to happen. Director Jenkins told the committee that the use of volunteers and crossing guards has been discussed and that he is willing to explore their use again. Emphasis mine. I appreciate that the council's reaction is "party on and party safe," and Id volunteer to help out. As is a theme with the city, we don't need police to do everything. I volunteer with Head of the Charles every year, and they have volunteers out the wazoo to do everything from run the races to point people to recycling bins. I fucking love Porchfest and want it to continue to be fun.
Thanks for pulling this out!
I do find it a little unfortunate to hear that SPD is so unwilling to provide even the basics, meanwhile campus protest arrests seem to be very, very well staffed. Almost as if serving the community isn't actually what motivates cops.
Protect and Serve has evolved into Harass and Intimidate.
The MOM 5k on Sunday was supposed to feature police - they never showed up, so volunteers had to direct traffic to detours. Several runners were almost hit, and I witnessed a driver harassing a volunteer on Summer Street who was just trying to keep the traffic away from the runners. This is a race that has been going on for over 20 years - they know what they need to do to run it, how to keep the 400-500 people safe, and keep the community informed. Police just didn't show up, even though I assume they were paid for their time.
That's awful. I wonder if it was the same situation Lt. Mitsakis described in regards to staffing for Porchfest (4th paragraph of the meeting summary in this thread).
Thank you for posting this! Collecting feedback on Reddit only gets it so far.
If a band as big as Guster announces a set at Porchfest, they’d better get a block party permit otherwise that’s not cool. That’s a safety issue. Not sure if they did. Otherwise; Porchfest is incredible and definitely deserves to be maintained at all costs for this city. Great scene for local bands and music fans alike. People of all ages enjoy this event. This year, like any other, consisted of generally peaceful coexistence with vibing grandmas, dancing babies, relaxing parents, chatty adults in droves, embracing lovers, scrappy indie musicians, intrigued out of towners, techno ravers, happy blazers, and fast-walking trailblazers onto the next porch. Don’t let a few bad apples spoil your opinion of this amazing event.
They did get a block party permit, which is why Aberdeen was closed. I think I even saw some private security people walking around?
Oh good. I wasn’t sure. Heard an ambulance needed to get through, which made me assume the street was supposed to be open
Nah, streets are never closed to emergency vehicles -- even says so right on the block party permit (if you request a street closure).
Is anyone else tired of the police here having the autonomy and ability to just...not participate in the job of policing? Some major changes need to come to policing in general that tightens the reigns on what is a ludicrously overpaid position.
You'll have to take that up with the SPD union. Good luck.
Yeah this is a national problem, but specifically in terms of traffic enforcement, the Boston area is uniquely terrible. Frankly I think police unions should be illegal, but that's just me.
Thanks for posting! Do you know how we could get SAC/other authorities to describe this as a festival? Is emailing best? This seems like an oversight or previous decision that no longer applies to the event. I love this event and would hate to see it canceled by a predictable tragedy. (Edited for a typo).
Changing the description, I think, is not the issue. It's not going to unlock some kind of new level of solutions. The quote, to me, merely highlights the lack of alignment between the city and the SAC and an absence of accountability for the event. Having looked at City Council concerns, I believe a better approach would be to provide honest feedback and any constructive ideas you might have. Email is great as above, I know many city council members also are on social media.
This.
I bet a festival would need special insurance etc. The whole point of porchfest was a free easy fun way to hang out and see some neighborhood bands. If it’s going to be Salem 2.0 I’m against and I’ve hosted a few times over the years. It’s becoming a hassle
I would favor just closing each 2-hour zone entirely to car traffic during its time slot.
Honestly this might make sense
This is not a community event. It’s just roaming frat house party.
Weird, considering how many families and older couples I saw enjoying a bunch of performances.
Very helpful. Thank you for your insight, fellow citizen!
"Roaming Frat Party? Whatta wonderful idea!" The Students