Controlling Drinking at New England Patriots Games: Foxboro, MA Takes Action

Controlling drinking at New England Patriots Games has become a serious matter in small town Foxboro, MA. It's quite possible that some New England Patriots fans could be fined in Foxboro, MA. when the next season cranks up. But how can that be? After all didn't the Patriots put little Foxboro on the map to begin with. Hasn't owner Bob Kraft done everything possible to play nice with the locals. So shat kind of a "thank you" is this? The story in fact is a bit more complicated.

Living in Foxboro, MA for the last 35 years I can attest to the fact that, for the most part, local Foxboro residents have what one might call a love-hate relationship with the Pats. Like most New Englanders we love to watch the Patriots ( well, except for the playoff loss to the Jets, or any loss for that matter) at the stadium or in our own homes every time they play. We yell and scream and get excited. We have our special heroes and most families own some kind of Patriots gear that they proudly sport on game days.

In the years when the Patriots have gone to the playoffs or better yet made it to the Superbowl, local merchants have taken it up a notch and brought the tiny center of Foxboro to life with all manner of "Go Pats" signs banners. Sure we love our Pats, well most of the time.

For residents living in some parts of the town, including my particular street, Patriot game days can be mildly annoying. Traffic around the town builds hours before the scheduled start of the game and crossing the town or getting out of town via some streets can take longer than usual. Local police continue to work hard to reduce those kinds of traffic tie-ups.

Unfortunately a far more serious game day problem has arisen. In an article appearing on Jan 13, 2011 in the local Foxboro weekly newspaper, The Foxboro Reporter, in 2010, 918 people were taken into protective custody for public intoxication. While not every single instance came from the stadium itself, the preponderance of the problem was certainly linked to that area of the town.

Local Police Chief, Ed O'Leary has made it clear that this is not acceptable. Foxboro voters will have a chance to stand with or against the chief at a special town meeting to be held March 7, 2011. At that meeting among other items, townspeople will get a chance to vote up or down on an article which would place a $200 fine on any publicly intoxicated person who is taken into protective custody by police. There is more bite in the article as well. Anyone not paying the fine could, according to Chief O'Leary, be subject to criminal prosecution for breaking a local bylaw.

It seems likely that townspeople in Foxboro will go on cheering their Patriots, but are just about ready to lower the boom on other fans who think its okay to bring public intoxication to town. And the boom will cost $200 per person.

Sources

http://www.foxbororeporter.com/articles/2011/01/13/news/8680735.txt