DIFFERENT WAVE STRIKES SPORT STADIUMS; VIOLENCE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-EMERGENCYNET NEWS SVC.-11/02/93-1230CST

DIFFERENT WAVE STRIKES SPORT STADIUMS; VIOLENCE

An Editorial by: Clark Staten, Executive Editor

Madison, WI -  What began as a joyous event for University of

Wisconsin students, a 13-10 win over rival Michigan, ended in

tragedy Sunday as seventy-five (75) fans were injured.

U of W Police Chief Susan Riseling said that the people were

injured when as many 12,000 fans stormed the end-zone,

destroying chain-link fences and iron railings.  Eight

students were reported to be in critical condition by a

Madison paramedic.

This event, just like dozens of other recent sports

"celebrations", has ended in violence with people trampled.

Other examples must include rioting that has taken place in

Dallas/Ft. Worth after a football victory and in Chicago, IL,

after a basketball championship. Hockey violence has been

prevalent in Toronto, Canada and elsewhere. And . . .  hundreds

of soccer fans have been injured throughout Europe and

Central/South America.  The price of victory in sports seems

to have escalated throughout the world.

The unfortunate Wisconsin incident, just like to many

others, was associated with thousands of fans being packed

into a relatively small space.  In the Madison, WI case,

77,745 people were shoe-horned into a very old Camp Randall

Stadium.  Officials admit that this was a "capacity" crowd

and that they had anticipated the possibility of a rampaging

crowd, should Wisconsin win the game.  Police strategy was

said to include a "fall-back" position to protect the goal

posts, should the youthful crowd decide to storm the field.

Chief Riseling, however, admitted that the plan didn't work

and that they had insufficient resources in "all of Dane

County" to stop the "onslaught" of excited fans.

More unfortunate than the inability of police to control the

crowd was the totally careless conduct of the crowd that was

seen to exist at the Wisconsin game.  As the crowd started to

surge toward the end-zone from the student sections of the

stadium, people were pushed against five feet high chain-link

fences, and eventually to the ground.  Police and bystanders

screamed for the crowd to stop moving forward and yet they

came.  Victorious football players from the Badger team

joined the officials in calling for the crowd to stop moving

forward, and the surge continued.  Finally, multiple

announcements on the stadium's public address system slowed

the crowds advance.  But, by that time, dozens of students

had been trampled and lay on the ground with broken bones and

crushing injuries.

There is a commonality to this senseless violence.

Sociologists and those that study "crowd behavior" say that

situations such as football, soccer, and basketball games

create a "mob mentality" that allows and even condones

personal behavior that would otherwise be inexcusable. They

speak to the excitement of the game, the rousing music, the

consumption of drugs and alcoholic beverages, and a feeling

of anonymity of the individual, as contributing factors

to the senseless behavior.  Further, at least one

anthropologist says that the movement of vast numbers of

people is often controlled by only a very few individuals who

are seen by others as "leaders".  This is referred to as a

"herd instinct" by those that study such things, and it may

be a major influence in the behavior and movement of

large numbers of people.

A tumultuous exaggeration of these principles was seen a

little more than a year ago in South Central Los Angeles, as

thousands of people took to the streets to loot, shoot, and

riot.  As seen on all of the major television stations,

people of all races and colors took advantage of the chaotic

circumstances on the streets.  People who had absolutely no

"sense of racial outrage" involving the beating of Rodney

King saw the wide-spread lawlessness as their personal

opportunity to act in a way that they would have never

considered were it not for the fact that "everyone is doing

it".  Worse, according to several behavioral scientists, is

a hypothesis reportedly accepted by a Los Angeles jury that

the beating of truck-driver Reginald Denny may have been

provoked and justified by this apocalyptic group behavior.

More ominous is the prospect for the future, if alternatives

and counter-measures to this alarming "group-think" mentality

can't be developed.  Experts predict that a series of coming

World Cup Soccer matches, to be held in the United States,

may have the potential for an even greater outrage.

Secondarily, concerns have been raised about the possibility

of major demonstrations or a terrorist event involving the

1996 Olympics, to be held in Atlanta, GA. Inherent in each of

these circumstances is the possibility of disorder or mass

casualties.

Emergency response experts agree that preparedness and

planning are the keys to prevention of these types of

incidents.  They also point out, however, that they

frequently don't have the resources or equipment to

manage large scale gatherings that have a

potential for disorder. Most police and emergency medical

services (EMS) agencies report that they are understaffed and

already hard-pressed to meet the increasing demands being

made of them.  Many speak to the issue of shrinking municipal

budgets and cut-backs in personnel, training, and equipment

budgets.  Many police and fire chiefs say that these large

scale events are constantly "disasters waiting to happen".

Behavioral scientists and public officials agree that one of

two things must happen for the crowd-inspired threat level to

decrease.  Either people, in general, must change their

attitudes, opinions, and group behaviors when attending

public events, or adequate resources must be provided to our

emergency response agencies to enforce the norms that are

acceptable to society and to attempt to mend the shattered

bodies of the victims of this senseless violence. Maybe . . . an

effective alternative would involve both changes.

                                 -30-

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