The weekend seemed to go well both at work and when I was I uniform at the ballpark. Until Sunday evening in the bottom of the seventh inning. This would be a night that not only tested me as an officer, but also as a gay policeman.
I was giving a briefing on a closed street outside the ballpark to a majority of my officers since we had to move a crowd of people out of the center field, and shut down the area for another fireworks display. As we all waited for a few officers to show up, my cell phone rang. The manager of the food stands asked if I had an officer near a particular seating section since a a group of fans had a complaint they wanted to lodge. I got an immediate response from an officer, who is also a close friend. He went to handle the complaint while I gave directions on how we would be moving people and closing streets. Another officer also volunteered to assist in the complaint.
Soon the crowds were moved, and the streets were cleared. The officer’s attending the complaint informed me that the problem were fans not getting along, and that the original complaining parties were very angry. One even mentioned that they were a police officer, and in the words of one officer; became very “shitty“ with the officers trying to quell the situation. The innuendo in making the statement that they were a police officer came off as a threat to my two uniformed officers. They even told this female that if she were a police officer; she needed to act a little more professional an mature while they tried to mediate the situation. The officer’s were only told that the parties involved did not seem to get along and nothing else was mentioned. So my officer’s moved the other group of fans 15 sections away. They handled it quite well as far as I was concerned.
The game was over, I was by my marked unit awaiting for the signal that fireworks would blaze in the sky when the Operations Manager (Greg) of the ballpark called me on my cell phone. The original complaining party seemed to be still highly upset and found him. When Greg attempted to calm them down, they started dropping names and making threats to have officers and stadium staff fired for not handling their complaint properly. I reiterated what the officer’s had told me and the Greg agreed that it was handled properly.
Greg then talked to a number of fans and staff in the section and they all seemed to back up how my officer’s handled the problem. When he went to talk to the complaining party again, they became hostile and threatening with him. Even demanding a full stocked suite in the upper deck the next time they decided to come to the park. When he asked what specifically happened, the party started name dropping, threatening to have people fired, claiming their safety was at risk, and inferred that the law was being violated. I again spoke with the officer’s involved and they could not give any specifics on what actually happened amongst the fans. All they knew was that profane language and fans not getting along were the issue.
Since threats were being made, and that one of the parties involved was claiming to be a police officer; I will admit I was getting pretty annoyed. It seems that no one was actually telling Greg or my officer’s what transpired between the fans, and the complaining party was not letting the situation go. I decided to move around all my officer’s and proceed to head back into the ballpark to find out what was going on.
It only took about 5 minutes among the thousands of people in attendance before Greg pointed out the complaining party. I approached the group who consisted of men and women in their twenties. I introduced myself and took them outside the ballpark near a quiet area so I could speak with them. They became irate right away when I asked what had happened with the officer’s when they arrived at their section, and what they felt was done improperly on their part.
I was told that the officers cursed at them, and treated them unfairly. That they were exposed to fans calling them
“faggots and dykes” and felt as if they were singled out because they were gay. I asked if they told the officer’s what was said to them, or how they felt threatened by the other fans. They felt that explaining the situation was pointless, and regardless of the situation; the officer’s should have removed the other group of people and fans that did not like them. I explained that the officer’s did try to mediate the situation and since no one would admit or volunteer why there was a problem. The best solution to cease the problem was to move the other group.
Then I asked who was the police officer. I had to ask several times, and think my demeanor in asking may have intimidated the group. Finally, a female stepped forward and said she was a police officer. When I asked for her I.D. she said that she did not have a police I.D. because she was laid off and once worked at a department that is approximately an hour away. I immediately became very stern with her and told her quite simply
“ you have no jurisdiction here, the right to identify yourself as an officer, or police power in the state of Ohio anymore. Your treatment of my officer’s is not acceptable and by law you have no right to interfere with how they handle any situation under my command.” She began to cry, but I was not feeling sorry or her. Then one of the guys decided that it would be best to threaten me with the “power his father has in the city” and I told him I was not impressed, nor did I really care. I also could smell that many had been drinking, so I can understand why emotions were running so high.
I informed the group of men and women that if they would have simply told the officer’s that they were being harassed because of their lifestyle and the words “faggot and dyke” were being said to them in front of so many people; the situation would have been handled quite differently. That no officer, or ballpark official would tolerate this behavior and the anyone involved in the harassment would have been escorted out of the park, and told not to return for the remained of the season. Worse case scenario, people could have been arrested.
Then I was told
“but the officer’s did not like us because we are gay, and you are treating us the same way!”. Well, that was the wrong this to say to me. I think I got very close to them in terms of their personal space and made them very aware that not only were they talking with a police officer, but a gay one as well. That the statement that was just made was absolutely absurd, and they needed to really get a grip. That I could relate with how they felt, but pointed out how they were handling their anger over the situation in the wrong way!
As I stood their speaking with them some more, a group of teenagers walked by and the following remark was made
“ just drop it, FAGS”. I immediately radioed for more officers to come to my area and stopped the group of teens (yes, this is the group that actually harassed the gays/lesbians during the game, and had the balls to make a remark while I was talking with them). The male that made the remark said “what the fuck are you stopping us for?”. Another officer soon joined the original group I was speaking with. I told the teens to stay where they were and escorted the smartass across the street by himself. We had a nice chat and I had no tissues to give him as the tears rolled down his face. I wonder if he had urinated in his pants
. I doubt Mr. testosterone will have a smartass thing to say again. Trust me.
In the end, the situation with the group of gays and lesbians ended with me escorting them down the street talking about friends we had in common. I invited them back to the ballpark and promised that they would have a great time without the worry of being harassed and if they would be; I would personally take care of the problem. On my way home I thought about the situation and wondered if I would have overreacted, but I cannot imagine the gut wrenching feeling it was to hear “faggot and dyke” being made towards them during a baseball game and why no one in the sea of fans decided to stand up for these patrons.
