Columnists :: Reality Check
Crossing the line in P’town by Jeff Epperly
contributing editorThursday Apr 3, 2008 You don’t need to have worked nightclub security for 20 years in Boston and Provincetown to know that people do stupid things when they’re drunk or high, but having done so sure expands your repertoire of stories about the unbelievably witless things people do in clubs. When I think back on the human stupidity I witnessed, it’s surprising I didn’t wise up and stop partying far sooner than I did.
Working in Provincetown was definitely a high point in my security career, but the place also seems to draw more than its share of loonies who commit foolish acts that make you wonder how they’ve managed to stay unharmed and gainfully employed. Partly this is because the live-and-let-live town has a high tolerance for eccentricity - one of its chief selling points aside from its setting. But it’s also because most of the people in the clubs are tourists, and they aren’t surrounded by their peer group. You’d never think of wetting yourself in the middle of the dance floor at your hometown bar in Podunk, Iowa, but it sure seems like a good idea at a P’town bar in July when you’re just having too good a time to trudge all the way to those far-away urinals.
It’s against this backdrop that I’ve wondered what it must be like to be a police officer in Provincetown. On the one hand, it’s a great place and you don’t want to come down too hard on people who visit your town because it has a reputation for being freewheeling. On the other hand, every day you deal with many people who aren’t on their best behavior and who have over-imbibed who-knows-what substances. In addition, many of them come from big cities and think it’s acceptable to treat you, despite your badge, as some sort of intellectually deficient rube who just fell off a lobster boat.
No surprise, then, that in 20-plus years of going to Provincetown I’ve witnessed police-public interactions that were models of law enforcement professionalism, and others that were textbook examples of how officers and the public can purposefully push one another’s buttons. Mostly I’ve seen officers with a difficult job in a great location trying to do what’s best for the town and its visitors.
I witnessed a near-riot that, had it not been for the restrained, cooler heads of Provincetown police leaders, would have had a very different and unhappy ending for everyone involved. I’ve had drunk, belligerent friends who would likely have been arrested if they were anywhere else, but who were instead taken by Provincetown Police into "protective custody" for the night and released the next day with nothing to show for it but a hang-over.
Having said all of that, I do think there is something to the notion that the Provincetown Police Department over the last few seasons has had some well-deserved concerns lobbed its way over how seriously it treats possible bias crimes, and whether its officers are trained in ways that best serve the diverse population of a town that relies on both full-time and seasonal officers. Regular readers of this paper are likely familiar with all that has happened over the last few years, but the most egregious example is the case of Boston DJ Barry Scott.
At 10:20 p.m. on July 14, Scott was spinning at a friend’s backyard 40th birthday party - we’re not talking an out-of-control rave here - when the police arrived responding to a noise complaint. According to witnesses at the party, Scott was shutting down the music (with some mild grumbling) when under-trained summertime officers suddenly attacked him, threw him around for good measure, and arrested him. Nothing in eyewitness accounts can explain the brutal way that Scott and his partner were treated - nor does any of it explain why District Attorney Michael O’Keefe is moving forward with this case when his office has so many other real crimes to prosecute. I’ve been acquainted with Scott for a long time, and he is one of the people I know who is least likely to speak crossly to someone, much less incite a riot at a backyard party. That’s what makes this incident so shocking.
Some progress has been made. Provincetown recently decided against hiring Acting Police Chief Warren Tobias, the man in charge when so many of these questionable police actions took place, as the town’s permanent chief of police. That is a commendable start. Now the town should do what it can to see that Scott’s case is dismissed and to investigate why such a blatant over-reaction took place.
Some of Scott’s supporters have called for a boycott of Provincetown. I think that’s shortsighted and unfairly punishes this community’s friends and supporters in the town. I’m going back this year despite misgivings. But, as with many others, I’ll be watching closely to see how the town resolves the Barry Scott incident - and what it’s doing to prevent it from happening again.
Supporters of Scott will be having a fundraiser to help him defray legal expenses. The event will be held April 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the home of Steven Ralston, 158 West Concord St., in the South End. For more information call 781.838.2704 or visit this column on the web at baywindows.com to link to the Evite.
Jeff Epperly is the former editor of Bay Windows. He can be reached at jepperly@laquidas.com
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