By Adriana Diaz
BU News Service
While Boston sports fans are notoriously considered obnoxious anywhere outside of New England, they are surprisingly tame on record, considering the massive crowds their celebrations draw in. Low numbers of arrests during sports celebrations is a trend in Beantown.
Within a three-month span, Boston has celebrated the wins of the 2018 World Series and 2019 Super Bowl, racking in 12 championships since the turn of the century.
This month’s Super Bowl parade brought in an astonishing 1.5 million people to the city according to police, proving that Boston sports fans are still not tired of the wins. However, only 12 people were arrested, 7 being minors.
With an estimated 6,000 people rushing to the Common at the game’s end Feb. 3, only one arrest was made – and he was from LA.
The same occurred on Oct. 25, when the Red Sox won the World Series. As an estimated 5,000-6,000 people flooded the Common, only one person was arrested. During the World Series Parade a few days later, only 6 people were arrested from the thousands of people crowding the streets.
The police were called to the scene 71 times for different incidents between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. the night of the 2019 Super Bowl win, according to Boston Police data. This is an uptick from the 46 times police respond to the scene on an average February night between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. and yet only one non-Bostonian was arrested.
The Boston Police Department tweeted on behalf of the officers who were “extremely grateful to all who turned out and celebrated responsibly.”
Despite the traditions like throwing beers at the duck boats – that don’t always result in Gronk shotgunning them, but rather, injuries – Boston sports celebrations also lead to an overall Bostonian love for their city and everyone in it.
“If you consistently go to games you see that the nature of the games isn’t rowdy, but people are so happy and so proud. They want to show the players how grateful they are for making it such an awesome time to be a fan,” said Emily Conlin, a lifelong Boston resident. “The energy at the parades is the same behavior that is happening at all the tailgates all season, they’re just not broadcasted like the wins and the parades.”
During the Patriots parade this year, fans came together to push an ambulance that was stuck in the mud on the Commons.
In another instance, Boston Police officers personally escorted an elderly woman through the crowd. And of course, the whole city was singing “Sweet Caroline.”
