REVERE – City Councilors hit state and transit police brass with tough questions Monday about the April 28 teen “onslaught” on Revere Beach that led to arrests and a stabbing on a summer-like spring day.Mass texting on hand-held devices, including cell phones, steered an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 teenagers, many of them from Boston, onto Blue Line trains and, ultimately, into subway stations bordering Revere Beach.
City Councilor George Colella said he saw the first wave of teens pour out of Revere Beach station mid-morning on the 28th.
“I m 82 years old and I’ve never seen something like this: A wave of humanity I’ve never witnessed and, that in fact, was frightening,” Councilor at Large Colella said, “Quite frankly, I didn’t see one State Police car. What descended on that beach on April 28 makes the Blizzard of ’78 pale by comparison.”
Six people were arrested and someone was injured after being struck in the head with a chisel.
State Police said they swiftly responded to the teen tsunami and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police said they coordinated with Revere and Boston counterparts to control the crowds.
“It was alarming to have a gigantic number of kids skipping school and there was disruption to traffic,” said State Police Major Daniel Grabowski.
But Deputy MBTA Police Chief Joseph O’Connor dismissed suggestions to install metal detectors in MBTA stations. He said video cameras in stations and police patrols on trains ensure security aboard trains and buses and in stations.
“It’s not feasible and the level of security needed does not reach that level,” O’Connor said, adding, “The vast majority of youth complied when we asked them to leave.”
Councilors want answers to why the crowds tied up afternoon commute traffic along Ocean Avenue and adjoining streets and intersections.
Council President Daniel Rizzo scheduled Monday’s meeting and said he wants it to lead to coordinated police planning to avoid future crowd and traffic control problems.
“My goal is to get public safety infrastructure in place with regional police departments ? Boston, Lynn, Revere – to have a traffic plan in place in case this should occur again to deal with this as well as traffic in rest of the city.”
Spending cuts in the current state budget and forecast for the budget year that begins July 1 leave the State Police with $1.65 million to spend on beach safety with $300,000 less allocated so far for 2010, state Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein said.
“It’s going to be a long, hot summer,” Rizzo said.
