Police, Xfinity Center Disagree on Summer Jam Response

Mansfield, MA — Depending on who you talk to, either Summer Jam at the Xfinity Center was one of the toughest situations some officers have seen or there was an overblown response.

Members of the Mansfield Police Department and the Xfinity Center were present at Wednesday’s selectmen meeting to discuss security issues and the response from police officers at the rap concert.

Police told the selectmen that several fights and arrests overwhelmed officers working the show. At one point, the entire detail assigned to the lawn area was gone, responding to issues at the top of the venue.

Lt. Francis Archer told the selectmen that things got so bad that he messaged Xfinity Center General Manager Jeff Mann “We lost the lawn.” Soon after, beer sales were limited to one per person before they were shut off completely at 9 p.m

A mutual aid request was made, resulting in officers from Foxborough, Norton, Plainville, Attleboro, and Easton assisting at the show. Overall, there were 58 officers at the show, along with police dogs present as attendees left the show.

The response was a bit much, according to Mann.

“The level of response didn’t match the level of issue,” Mann said. "That was massive for a response to a problem on the lawn,” Mann said.

Mann also criticized the decision to use dogs and the presence of an armored vehicle, calling it "intimidating."

"We don't want a dog attack on the front of the newspaper," Mann said.

Archer defended the decision, adding that having the extra officers and dogs at the entry gate was why there were no problems in the parking lot after the show.

“The fights were everywhere. We had 10 officers assigned to the lawn. At any given time Sgt. Bain was left with no officers, as they tried to deal with riotous actions,” Archer said. “Many of the officers commented that they never saw anything like that.”

Mann expressed concern for the officers setting up at the top of the lawn, causing people to push forward. He warned that such a response could force people into the fence that separates the lawn from the seats, telling the selectmen to look up the Hillsborough Disaster, a 1989 incident during a Liverpool-Nottingham Forest soccer match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England where 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives and another 766 were injured due to overcrowding in a pen area behind a goal.

Due to a packed meeting schedule, the discussion was cut short but Archer said they would keep the lines of communication with the Xfinity Center open.