Police Commission Calls For Parade Safety Measures

By Andrew Gorosko

In response to Police Commission members’ concerns, Police Chief Michael Kehoe plans to discuss the public safety aspects of the town’s annual Labor Day Parade with the event’s organizers.

Police Commission members met at a September 7 session, the day after the town’s annual Labor Day Parade was staged during perfect weather.

Police Commission member Gerald Finnegan said that an ultralight aircraft that was being flown in passes over Main Street was operating at too low an altitude for safety. If the aircraft were to fail, it would pose crash hazards and potential fatalities in the crowd below, he said.

Mr Finnegan said that some vehicles being driven in the parade had signs propped up on their windshields and side windows, greatly restricting the visibility for their drivers and posing collision hazards with pedestrians watching the parade.

Commission member Richard Simon said that the throwing of candy by marching units to children standing alongside the parade route is distracting, posing potential safety hazards.

Chief Kehoe said the drivers of farm tractors in the parade demonstrate the great maneuverability of such vehicles by making extremely tight turns while on the parade route. Such maneuvering could prove dangerous to the crowd nearby, he said.

Mr Simon said if a tractor were to lose a critical mechanical part, such as a tie-rod end, while doing tight turns, the vehicle could go careening into the crowd, causing injuries.

Some parade units that drive tiny go-carts in the event drive very close to the side of the road where many people are watching the parade, Chief Kehoe said.

Noting that some people trend to stand on the road along the parade route, the police chief said that the full width of the road is required for the parade.

In response to commission members’ comments, Chief Kehoe said he would talk to parade organizers about certain safety measures to be taken for the next parade.

“We want to be a little safer,” the police chief said.