All You Need is ... ERT?!

Last weekend, I and a group of friends had the great fortune to attend the Abbey Road on the River (Canada) Beatles Festival at the Empire Square in beautiful Belleville, Ontario. The weather was exquisite, the venue was first class and the talent was out of this world. It was a peaceful affair. The audience – such a lovely audience – was made up of everyone from newborn babies earlier in the day, to teens to grandparents – maybe even a few great-grandparents – and everyone in between. Just regular people like me and you. After all, who doesn’t love The Beatles?

I happened to notice the arrival of a couple of local police officers. They came in peace – it was obvious that they enjoyed the music, they were nothing if not friendly and they seemed glad to be there. It didn't strike me as unusual that they should have a presence there.

However, I could not avoid noticing the additional presence of a member of the city's specialized Emergency Response Team (ERT). He was fully equipped, with baton, taser, firearm, etc. - the whole nine yards. The uniform was different as well - darker, with less visible insignia. He seemed quite out of place and, to my eye at least, it was more than a little strange to see him mingling – in riot gear – among this particular crowd.

I don’t claim to know a lot about crowd control or event security; however, I think this requires a little more sunshine. I can’t IMAGINE what would justify an ERT presence at an event such as this one. It would seem to me that, had things suddenly gone sideways in a way that was beyond the control of the regular police who were there, that would have been a legitimate time to call for ERT reinforcements.

I’m sure John, Paul, George and Ringo would agree.