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the stadium parking lots. The K9 Section is also on hand for crowd The traffic pattern on Route 1 is altered as vehicles are heading
control in the Pro Squad and to man the entrance checkpoints. into the stadium and changes again before they depart. The de-
The other uniformed members of the detail fill the traffic posts on tail uses a “contra-flow” lane -- a single lane, coned off for travel
Route 1 and are assigned to the traffic squad to handle crashes. The in the opposite direction from its normal flow. Each intersection
traffic posts stretch from Thurston Street in Wrentham, near Route and crosswalk along the contra-flow lane presents a potential haz-
495, up to Old Post Road in Walpole, just before the Route 95 onramp. ard for wrong-way operators and pedestrians who may not re-
The traffic posts nearest the stadium require numerous troopers to alize traffic is coming from the opposite direction, so mitigating
operate safely. Most people do not realize the challenge of holding that hazard is an important duty for this assignment. There are
back thousands of people as the group swells on a sidewalk, filling other units and personnel that become part of the detail, gener-
in from behind, ebbing forward like a slow-moving tidal surge. The ally the Air Wing and Public Order Platoons, for playoff games.
troopers at these posts often face challenges from intoxicated indi- These days, the Stadium Command Post is inside the Stadium it-
viduals. Fortunately, the majority of the fans in attendance are coop- self, unlike the original command post which was on the roof of
erative in their desire to get home safely. The crosswalk chronicles the old stadium. The Command Post runs the operations of the
of Sergeant Donald Bossi are a much anticipated part of each detail. detail, monitoring everything on three channels. Lieutenant Timo-
French·and·electric·blue·December·2015·page·6
