The summer concert season at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford began on Saturday, which meant police are getting busy cracking down on underage drinking and tailgating.
Police and managers of performance venues in the Hartford area were asking parents to dissuade underage drinking before Saturday’s Rascal Flatts concert at Xfinity.
When Rascal Flatts came to Hartford in 2013, police arrested 29 people and cited 126 for underage drinking. It was the most arrests for any concert at the Xfinity Theatre in 2013.
“It’s the first concert of the season. Everyone is trying to get ready for it, so people are going crazy,” said George Fiore, a 20-year-old attending the concert from South Hadley, Mass.
Hartford police say they had to prepare differently for the crowds this year.
They acknowledge there isn’t too much they can do to stop the drinking and tailgating in the parking lots outside before the show, but police hoped their efforts this year made sure nobody gets too out of hand.
Police said many neighboring businesses that were spots for tailgating paid for Hartford police officers to monitor their property. Fencing has also been installed around some of the rear lots of the Xfinity Center to prevent access to nearby Amtrak railroad tracks.
Support groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) were also brought in to help.
“These are people that are trying to get in front of it with education — the holistic approach — rather than just an enforcement approach,” said Hartford Police Chief James Rovella.
Rather than allowing underage teens to hang out in parking lots hours before a show, Xfinity Theatre General Manager John Huff urged parents to drop their kids off near the front gate and watch them walk inside — or, better yet, chaperone.
Tricia Dolcequan of Milford tailgated with her son before the show, but couldn’t help but provide some motherly advice to some of the concert-goers.
“I am worried. Every girl that goes by I say, ‘Stay safe, and be careful,’ and they turn back and always say, ‘We’ll do our best,’ ” said Dolcequan.
Xfinity parking lots open three hours before the shows, but tailgating ends about an hour before performances start.
Dr. Steven Wolf, chairman of emergency medicine at St Francis Hospital, patrolled the Xfinity parking lots with medical personnel and Police Chief Rovella to ensure everyone’s safety.
“The worst fear is that somebody is so intoxicated that they’re in the bushes in the back of the rail lot, they go there and pass out and nobody will see them. That’s what we’re really worried about,” Wolf said.
Chief Rovella noted that about 95 percent of children and teens arrested at Xfinity are not from Hartford. But the influx of emergency incidents has put a strain on Hartford’s three hospitals and the EMS system.
Hartford police are still waiting to release the number of arrests and citations from Saturday’s show, but expect there to be fewer than at the 2013 show.
Amanda Nowak, a Chicopee, Mass., resident who has attended the Rascal Flatts concert at Xfinity for the last five years, says there’s a noticeable difference in police enforcement.
“They really cracked down on it. You can tell,” said Nowak.