Concert attendees dis­pute police arrests
Police conducting

internal affairs probe into Jan. 9 incident

BY KARL VILACOBA

Staff Writer

BRICK — The township police department is conducting an internal affairs investigation regarding a township-sponsored Jan. 9 concert where nine teens were arrested on various charges of misconduct.

The Township Council announced the probe at its Jan. 13 meeting, where a few dozen youths who attended the concert disputed police reports of violent behavior and fighting.

Police say the Brick Township Civic Plaza was crowded to capacity when they first arrived to assist a first aid call that night. While conferring with Brick Municipal Alliance Committee (B-MAC) security officials inside, police said they observed fights revolving around a mosh pit and encountered resistance while trying to disperse crowds when the show was shut down.

Typically associated with aggressive musical styles like metal, punk and hard-core, moshing is a dance form where people crowd an area of the floor — the mosh pit — push and shove, bang their heads and flail their arms and legs to the music. The teens who attended the council meeting said there was little physical contact in or around the B-MAC pit, an assertion police dispute.

"I personally didn’t see any fighting or anything. I’ve been to other shows like this that have been much more violent," said Mark Bronzino, a youth who attended the concert.

Bronzino wondered if the appearance of violent behavior at the show was a misunderstanding by authorities and security, who weren’t familiar with moshing. Some members of the council and public confessed to knowing little about it, and asked the teens for information when they came up to speak.

Others said the crowd was not refusing to disperse, but waiting for rides home to arrive when the concert was shut down early. Thomas Bartnicki, who was charged with disorderly conduct after the show, said he didn’t witness the improper use of force alleged by others, but felt the premise of the arrests was unfair.

"I think they used the proper amount of force to make an arrest, but I think many, if not all, of those arrests were unnecessary," Bartnicki said.

Councilwoman Kathy Russell met with B-MAC officials Jan. 11 to discuss ways to avoid future incidents, like admitting fewer people, adding chaperones and inviting fewer bands. Russell said Brick’s youth should be given a second chance after there has been time to "let the dust settle." The council asked Bronzino and others to leave their names with the council secretary so they can take an active role in planning future events.

Bartnicki suggested B-MAC employ security guards who are specifically trained to deal with mosh pits at future shows. However, council President Stephen Acropolis said the township "is not an entertainment company," and would be better off leaving private organizers to run concerts in the future.

As part of the internal affairs investigation, police and other witnesses at the scene are being questioned, and the report will be made public when concluded, according to Brick Business Administrator Scott MacFadden.

In a letter to the Board of Education, the council asked that the district’s code of conduct, which punishes students for infractions committed off school grounds, not be enforced in this case until the in­vestigation is complete.

Resident Richard Kight and one-time board candidate John Talty said the incident is a case in point for why the code of conduct should be abolished.

"It’s a cancer in this town, and they’ve been tweaking it. And when you have cancer, you don’t tweak it — you get rid of it," Talty said.