After our post last week about a youtube video showing a fight between police and event attendees at the 10th annual Shamrock The Block festival, held March 16 on 18th St in Shockoe Bottom, a vigorous discussion erupted, both in the comments section of the article and on our facebook page. Reactions were strong, with some readers totally convinced that the police used excessive force in the course of the altercation, while others were just as firmly convinced that the police were well within their rights to behave as they did. And some readers blamed the Shamrock the Block event for the situation, and questioned whether it should continue.
At a meeting of the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association yesterday, a similar question was being pondered. As reported by WTVR Channel 6 News, the discussion at Monday's meeting centered around the events captured by the youtube video. "This video makes people think this is a place where you go just to act badly," Neighborhood Association president David Napier told WTVR, Last week, in conversation with WWBT Channel 12 News, Napier had said something similar: "I don't want people to think when you come to a festival in Shockoe Bottom you are going to have a beer broken on top of your head." He went on to add, "For one day a year the bars do really well. There's another 364 days that our reputation has been hurt by this."
However, the impression given by the video of a chaotic, violent event is false. Four arrests were made in connection with the video's events--three for public drunkenness, one for obstruction of justice. But in all, only five arrests were made during Shamrock The Block, which was still a significant increase from the previous year, which had zero arrests. This is partly due to the work of Three One One Productions, the company that produces the event. They hired 17 off-duty police officers to act as security for the event. Mike Murphy, managing partner of Three One One Productions, who produce the event, gave a statement to the Richmond Times Dispatch, which read, in part: "For a crowd that size and to have a limited number of incidents truly reflects the professionalism of RPD and that the majority of people who attend the festival are there to have a great time responsibly, enjoy the music and support the merchants of Shockoe Bottom. It’s unfortunate that the spotlight is put on a particular incident rather than the overall event."
And what of Napier's comment that "bars do really well" during Shamrock the Block? How do businesses in Shockoe Bottom feel about the economic impact of the event? There doesn't seem to be a strong consensus. In Murphy's statement, he mentioned "the massive revenue the festival brings to the merchants of Shockoe Bottom on that day."WTVR reports that the festival is the biggest money-maker of the year for some bars in the area, who want the event to remain in Shockoe Bottom in the future. However, John Van Peppen of Arcadia restaurant said that the festival caused him to lose a quarter of his business, and that it is "a little bit of a difficult festival for us to work through." Calvin Allen, a barber who works at a shop on 18th St, told WTVR that his shop closes before the event begins, saying, "It is easier for me just to get out of here before it starts. Usually they start about noon, and we try to be out of here by about 11."
When we asked William McCormack, owner of McCormack's Irish Pub, whether the event was good for business, he said, "It's not really fair to talk to me about it ... because it's St. Patrick's Day and I own an Irish pub. We did the same amount [of business] before the event as after. But I think it's a good thing to get people down to Shockoe Bottom again in generall." McCormack considers the actions of the police as documented in the youtube video to constitute excessive force. However, he feels that the usual police presence in Shockoe Bottom is a much bigger issue for Shockoe business owners. "The Bottom's problems, mind you, are not caused by Shamrock the Block," he said. "They're caused by the policing every night. ... That's why the businesses in Shockoe Bottom are struggling. And I understand why the police are down there, but it definitely hurts my business."
McCormack added that he did not blame the Richmond Police Department as a whole for the actions of the officers in the youtube video. "The police department's actions during Shamrock The Block were fine, but that one officer's were not... That's the kind of thing that screws my business up--that officer's actions. Maybe not to that extreme, but the police down there have been acting like bullies for a long time... I've heard the story a thousand times from my customers, who don't want to go to the Bottom anymore."
All of Shockoe Bottom's merchants agree that improving the economic future of the neighborhood is a priority. How this goal will intersect with the future of Shamrock the Block, though, is up for debate. Napier suggests ending the event earlier, and cutting off alcohol sales at least an hour before the event ends. Van Peppen suggests that "if we cut off at 4, it gives us the time to get the place cleaned up... and for the businesses to get back to what they’re doing for dinner." It may be that minor changes are all that's needed to prevent future incidents similar to the one that started this debate. Three One One's Mike Murphy points out that it's impossible for any large-scale event to completely avoid incidents of an undesirable nature, but that "RPD has done a tremendous job over the last 10 years, and have been most tolerant to the select few that push the limits of common sense."
In the end, the fact that, no matter what is decided now, the next Shamrock The Block is still nearly a year away is certainly a positive thing. The fact that everyone involved will have months to calm down and view recent events from a more rational and distanced perspective should help ensure that no rash decisions are made. Hopefully, by the time any permanent solutions are proposed, people will be more focused on what's best for Richmond's economy than on a video which paints a sensational, but likely inaccurate, picture of a long-running local event.