Two years later, riot free

After Wednesday's men's basketball loss to rival Duke, hundreds of students quietly filtered out of Comcast Center and the downtown bars. There was no celebrating or rioting in sight.

But local police departments were still ready — in fact, as some students walked past Ritchie Coliseum, at least 80 Maryland State Police officers waited inside, dressed in full riot gear and ready to depart at the sign of any trouble.

"It's additional protection for officers who may be subject to violent crowds," University Police Chief David Mitchell said of the extra officers on standby. "Why? Well, if you need them, you need them ready to roll, so they were prepared to do that."

The officers in Ritchie were just a small population of the 500 police — combined from University Police, Prince George's County Police, Maryland State Police, Maryland-National Capital Park Police and the College Park Volunteer Fire Department — who patrolled College Park on Wednesday night from Comcast Center to Route 1.

By 11:30 p.m., shortly after the game had ended, at least 15 police cruisers were present between Hartwick Road and Rossborough Lane. An additional fleet of eight riot horses were also ready in case students flooded Route 1 and began to riot like they did two years ago after the Terps beat Duke in a regular season game.

Although police said they were not anticipating a riot, preparing for one was critical to ensuring student safety.

"We don't want an instant crowd to envelop Route 1 without any police presence at all," Mitchell said. "History has shown that's not good. The idea is if the bars empty out, there is a police presence there without sticks and shields and gas masks. And, if there was a crowd surge that enveloped those roads, it's going to take every bit of police presence."

Two years ago, 23 students were arrested in the post-Duke game madness. Students alleged police brutality, eventually leading to an FBI investigation into the Prince George's County Police Department for officer conduct that night. But Wednesday night — just like last year's Duke game — stood in stark contrast. Mitchell said all 500 officers went home without a single arrest or confrontation.

Prince George's County Police District 1 Commander Maj. Robert Brewer said his officers were prepared, but he wasn't anticipating any problems like the department saw in post-game riots in 2010.

"I don't want to categorize it as high risk, but in the past there have been celebrations that have poured into the streets," Brewer said. "In previous years, there were fires, cruisers burned."

It took police two weeks to plan for Wednesday night's preparations, Mitchell said. The five departments have had meetings to discuss officer placement, potential weather conditions and any other anticipation, he said.

Each department absorbed the cost of paying officers located in College Park overtime. The athletics department paid the officers located in Comcast and the officers directing traffic outside. University Marketing Director Brian Ullmann could not be reached for comment on the cost of financing these officers.

In addition to the 500 patrolling officers, police made an extra effort to control potential post-game celebration with a bonfire on Chapel Field. The fire was never lit, though, as there were not any students celebrating on Route 1. Last year, about 200 students attended a similar event.

"At some point the celebration needs to stop and we can't have people in the streets holding traffic forever, so we were prepared so people had a place to go. But we didn't have that," Mitchell said.

The total cost of the bonfire was "small," according to Mitchell, and because it was not lit, all of the materials can be used next year.

Some students said they were relieved no riot took place and police were watching the streets.

"After the riot two years ago, I feel that it's good that the police departments in the area are making an effort to prevent students from getting out of control," Katie O'Brien, a junior civil engineering major, said. "I feel like what they are doing is enough because no matter how many police are on the streets, if students wanted to, they would still have the same reactions."

egan@umdbk.com