Philadelphia police taking drastic measures in case Eagles win
Philadelphia civic authorities are doing everything they can to protect rowdy football fans from themselves.
This time, it’s putting hydraulic fluid on the city’s street poles and signs to prevent fans from climbing them in the event the Eagles beat the heavily-favored Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
The hydraulic fluid is an improvement over the Crisco vegetable shortening used by the city ahead of the Eagles’ NFC championship game win over the Vikings two weeks ago.
After all, hydraulic fluid doesn’t go rancid. So while it may be less environmentally friendly in the materials sense, it’s far more friendly in the olfactory sense.
It does, however, deprive the city’s work crews of the wonderful nickname “Crisco Cops,” which they acquired in the days leading up to the Vikings game.
Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross didn’t say exactly how many cops would be out there trying to prevent rowdy fans from causing wanton property damage, but he did imply it would be a phalanx of police.
Speaking to ESPN, Ross described the law enforcement presence as “a lot. More than there were two weeks ago, and there were a lot two weeks ago. It’s a significant deployment package because you have to be ready for anything.”
The city has plenty of experience with crowd control, both in and out of sports.
In addition to the Phillies winning the World Series in 2008, Philly police had to deal with a 2015 papal visit, the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and the 2017 NFL draft in terms of keeping fans and/or potential protesters or rioters at bay.
Cities have gotten used to sports championships being a mixed blessing in terms of keeping the populace from burning and breaking stuff.
The city of Vancouver looked like a war zone after the Canucks lost to the Bruins in the 2011 Stanley Cup, Seattle had property damage in Pioneer Square in 2014 after the Seahawks beat the Broncos in the Super Bowl, and San Francisco descended into complete chaos after the 2014 World Series.
Philadelphia is hoping the tradition of sports fans with a bit too much aggression using a big game as the excuse to go wild doesn’t continue Sunday.
In the event it does happen, however, the cops will be ready.
Meanwhile, Boston mayor Marty Walsh and that city’s police have made clear there will be “zero tolerance” for those sorts of shenanigans.
Boston police will crack down wicked hard on anyone who gets it in their head to try and set fires and break things as well.
The difference is that Philly isn’t used to winning titles. They’ve had only one since 2001. Boston has 10 — five Super Bowls, three World Series, an NBA title, and a Stanley Cup. Boston fans are a lot more likely to act like they’ve been there before and plan to be there again.
But if you see any Philadelphians on Monday with weird, greasy stains on their coats … well, don’t say the cops didn’t warn them.
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