Probation Officers from Across the State Maintain Order at
State Basketball Championships

          More than 30 Probation Officers from throughout the Commonwealth kept a close eye on fans and ball players at the Girls and Boys State Championship Basketball games held at the DCU (Digital Credit Union) Center in Worcester recently as part of the Massachusetts Probation Service's PEACE (Probation Enhancing Athletic Climate Excellence) Partnership Community Probation Initiative

          PEACE is an alliance between the Office of the Commissioner of Probation (OCP) and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), a private, non-profit association organized by its member schools to regulate, coordinate, and promote athletic programs for high school students. This partnership, the only one of its kind in the Northeast, has helped restore order at high school sporting events where passion for local sports teams and long-established rivalries have on occasion resulted in altercations or all out-brawls among teams and fans in the past.

          The Probation Officers, from Boston to Pittsfield, traveled to Worcester to participate in the PEACE initiative effort. They helped manage the excited crowd of 6,000 or more spectators who turned out for the six game line-up. The championship games featured Divisions 1, 2, and 3 high school basketball teams from across the state. Probation Officers were also present at basketball and hockey games this season.

          "The presence of P.O.'s at the games has definitely had an impact," said Worcester District Court Chief Probation Officer William Mattei. "We can talk to and relate to these fans in a very effective way. Our physical presence with vests and badges and in numbers made people feel more comfortable."

          Mattei added, “Parents have approached me and several other P.O.’s and stated how much safer they felt as a result of our presence. I think it is a good community responsibility as P.O.’s to provide this partnership with the local high schools and MIAA.

          At the Championship games Saturday, P.O.s noticed three young men intimidating and taunting opposing fans and immediately removed them from the facility. Probation Officers also observed and moved immediately to stop several youngsters from throwing pennies from the upper balcony of the center which could have led to injury, according to Mattei.

          “We have also been successful in speaking to rowdy fans about their conduct and comments to players on the floor,” said Mattei.

          Mattei said his department and the Worcester County Juvenile Probation Department were asked to provide PEACE officers at the games by the Worcester Public Schools and Worcester Police.

          Robert F. Pezzella, executive assistant to the Superintendent for School Safety and Violence Prevention, said of the PEACE initiative, “I am very happy about the impact having the Probation Officers at the games has had. When people, with the intention of starting trouble, walk into a basketball game, they think twice when they see Probation Officers. With police and probation officers at the games, there is a double consequence.”