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Police adjust downtown crowd-control plan after injuries

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Overwhelming "human gridlock" in Indianapolis' Super Bowl Village was causing police to rethink crowd control Saturday on the eve of the big game.

Eleven people were injured Friday night as an estimated 50,000 people flooded downtown streets for a free outdoor concert by the band LMFAO. Two other people were injured Friday separate from the concert-going group. Indianapolis Public Safety Director Frank Straub said none of the injuries were serious, most involving shortness of breath or scraped knees.

Officials were still tweaking their downtown plan Saturday as they prepared for more concerts and activities before kickoff, and they seemed to be pleased with the early results.

"The crowd, everything is great," Indianapolis Department of Public Safety Capt. Kevin Givens said Saturday night. "We've not having any problems with overcrowding."

The less-favorable weather conditions Saturday might have had something to do with that as mist changed to drizzling rain, with temperatures in the 30s. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic on some streets heading into downtown, but as of 10 p.m., police had not reported any injuries or arrests.

Police made a total of 22 arrests Friday night, mostly for public intoxication. One police car was damaged after concert-goers climbed on top of it to get a better view of the stage.

To make more room for people downtown, police closed down some streets completely and others just to inbound traffic. Additional officers were stationed near Super Bowl Village.

Rumors of stampedes, stage collapses and gunshots abounded on social-networking site Twitter as crowds grew Friday, and Straub said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers investigated them all and found no problems. He said reports of officers using pepper spray, Tasers or force of any kind to control the crowd were all false.

Super Bowl Host Committee spokeswoman Dianna Boyce said despite its overwhelming size, the crowd was good-natured and caused few problems.

"It looked like a lot of people having a good time," Boyce said. "When you have 200,000 people, you have to continue to keep everyone safe."

Kaitlyn Blacha of West Lafayette and her friends went downtown to see LMFAO Friday night, but Georgia Street was already so packed that they couldn't even see the stage. She said the crowd trying to get to the stage was mostly young, drunk, college-age kids. In the span of an hour, she was able to move about a block and was pushed from behind several times.

"At times, I was pinned so tightly I didn't even have to hold my body up," Blacha said. "Nobody could turn back. We were just stuck."

About an hour after arriving, she said security officers began ushering crowds down nearby alleys to alleviate some of the pressure on Georgia Street. She went down an alley and tried to return to Super Bowl Village but entrances were blocked off. She and her friends instead headed for a nearby bar.

"I never felt scared for my safety," she said. "It was Friday night and we were going downtown. We got what we deserved."

In preparation for free outdoor concerts from the bands Umphrey's McGee and O.A.R. on Saturday, Straub said between 650 and 700 officers will be on duty in the downtown area, 50 more than originally planned. Officers were prepared to close off access to the Super Bowl Village if crowds became too unruly.


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  1. something to take iman's mind off CART,,,the league itsownself doesn't do it

  2. Someone mentioned a green roof. Every designer of a new urban building should be required to at least explore the feasibility of a green roof. The ability to cut carbon dioxide, save precious rainwater (drought this summer??) and re-use grey water, cool the building cheaper, and improve the view for neighbors, should be, not only the good neighbor thing to do, it should be the responsible neighbor thing to do. Too bad the city didn't require it when they gave up downtown green space for the Simon Building. Surprised they aren't requiring it now.

  3. About the same means down, like the TV ratings.

    My favorite tradition that needs to be brought back is the 25/8 rule.

  4. Your stats are incorrect. The 85k Government employees working in Marion County includes all government workers in Marion county. That is state, federal, non profit agencies, city and county. The stats the article list is the number of employees for all of the city/county employees and it is correct. That number includes the library, airport, convention center, and so on. The policy of extending benefits to domestic partners is consistent with private sector companies of the same size. Isn't the mantra of most conservatives "run the government like a business."

    Also, too say the "fiscal proposil is huge" without considering the actuarial factors involved is a bit of an overstatement. We really don't know if it is huge or not. If all of the people added to the plan are healthy and don't have claims then it could bring cost done or hold them neutral.

  5. There are 85,346 government employees in Marion county according to Stats Indiana.

    My understanding is that this proposal covers not only same sex partners and children, but opposite same sex partners who are not married and any kids.

    It also covers all city and county employees, plus municipal corporations which use city/county benefits packages including Health and Hospital Corporation (Wishard), Indianapolis Airport Authority, Indianapolis Convention Center,Lucas Oil,Bankers Life, Indianapolis Marion County Library, and Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo).

    Certainly Indianapolis Public Schools will also want more benefits also.

    The fiscal cost on this proposal is huge.

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