LCE to return for Hey Day, Relays

Philadelphia Police will patrol the traffic near Franklin Field. After Spring Fling weekend passed with relative calm, the Division of Public Safety has again increased patrols and teamed up with the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement to patrol today's Hey Day festivities and this weekend's parties associated with the Penn Relays. Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said last week that undercover LCE agents will be on hand to patrol Hey Day and Relays just as they did a year ago. Rush was unavailable for comment yesterday, and Public Safety Managing Director Tom Seamon declined to comment on the University's safety and security efforts for the Hey Day and Relays festivities. Officials said security is tight for the Relays competitions and events in and around Franklin Field. Associate Director of Athletic Operations Tony Vecchione explained that approximately 100 Contemporary Security employees are handling venue security, ticket taking and ushering, adding that approximately 15 University Police officers are assigned to the Relays events. And Philadelphia Police Sgt. John Craig said 15 PPD officers are directing the often-heavy flow of traffic, while additional officers are keeping tabs on the numerous vendors for the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections. Vecchione said security guards are searching bags at gates to ensure that everyone feels safe at the Relays and at the Nike-sponsored carnival on the Lott Tennis Courts next to Franklin Field. "We're adequately staffed in order to maintain a carnival-festival atmosphere," he said, noting that the parking lot between the Ringe Squash Courts and Franklin Field was incorporated this year into the entire venue in order to relieve crowd congestion and provide extra space for food vendors. Although last year's Relays weekend passed without many incidents, police always hope to avoid a repeat of the 1994 Relays weekend, during which numerous assaults and robberies occurred and several large parties got out of hand. In 1994, University Police reported hearing gunshots in the area of 40th and Chestnut streets, the site of a large party where some crowd members smashed all the windows and tore off the antenna of a car that attempted to drive through the scene. In addition, a group of men beat three students after dragging them out of a car, a Domino's Pizza deliveryman was robbed at gunpoint in Superblock and a woman was stabbed at 40th and Spruce streets during that weekend. And in 1991, two bystanders were shot and wounded near the Penn Tower Hotel by a man who pulled out a handgun after being punched in the eye in a fight during the Relays weekend. Last year, 33 crimes -- including 13 thefts, six thefts from autos, three robberies and one simple assault -- were reported to University Police over the three-day weekend.

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