the chief of police over there sent this out to those lovely people on the shoites forums.......
The Chief of Police in Florence wants to introduce a different way of policing in Italian football grounds. His basic point is this:
"We are going to cater to the needs of visiting supporters and treat them in a civil and welcoming way. We are going to tell them in advance what the rules are and given them all the support they need not to break the rules. If the rules are broken, we will keep you overnight and then charge you the next day, no exceptions. "
With this in mind, he has a whole bunch of ideas and measures he wants to implement. He has the funding and the backing to do it, but he obviously doesn't want to waste money on something that won't be used or isn't of interest to visiting supporters. Especially if there is something else he can do which, in fact, will help visiting fans.
Here are some of his suggestions. I'd be grateful if you could comment on them.
1. Hiring out the PalaMandela : It's a sports hall seating 1200 immediately adjacent to the stadium (and named for Nelson Mandela). He wants to reserve it for visiting Liverpool fans who might want some shelter, or rest or a shower. He'll have live music playing there in the hours before the game (any suggested bands - within reason - he says are welcome/also any type of
music that LIverpool supporters may enjoy). At the PalaMandela there will be food, drink and a first aid station.
2. Pre-match Pasta Party :He wants to pay for some 2000 portions of pasta to be distributed among Liverpool supporters an hour or so before the game.
3. Free bottles of water at the match.
4. Shuttle buses running from the city centre to the stadium before and after the game.
5. A dedicated email and phone number (with an English-speaking operator). This will be given to Liverpool supporters and go straight through to the police. It is to be used if anybody is lost, needs directions, has had something stolen or broken, wants a lift to the game or into town and so on. It will go straight to the police, so he assures a quick response time. He is making this available both before and after the game, because he wants to know of any problems or complaints that Liverpool supporters might have.
6. Normally in cases of extreme drunkennes it's standard practice in Italy for an ambulance to be called and for the individual to be taken to the hospital, usually accompanied by the police. He fears that, if this is done, it might be seen as aggressive and confrontational by Liverpool supporters and he wants to avoid that. So he is considering setting up a fully-equipped medical tent at the stadium, so that drunk fans could be treated and checked immediately, without being led away from their mates. This is obviusly quite expensive and he would like to know if, in your opinion, it's worth doing.
7. ALCOHOL. He is leaning towards a ban on matchday. His main concern is that, in years past, when he has allowed alcohol, damage was done, in particular to city buses and public property. He is open to suggestions - one possibility is banning the sale in supermarkets, but allowing it in bars and restaurants, provided it is sold in plastic cups (he is concerned about broken glass). He says that, unlike Rome, if there is a ban, he will enforce it with hefty fines within the city limits.
8. He wants to make large quantities of non-alcoholic beer available at and around the ground.
9. Ticketing - this could be a problem and it could be outside his control, so he is asking for patience and understanding. Italian law requires nominal tickets, in other words your name must be on the ticket and you need to present a photo-document proving who you are.
He is working on a system of vouchers that might make things easier for everyone, but he is very much open to suggestions. And he would be grateful if you could help explain the situation.
Once the rules are made, he will be very inflexible on this point.
10. Basically, he wants to know of any other issues/concerns/ suggestions you or your members might have.
as i said, "file under unbelievable".
this was a r/s response....
Re the non alcoholic beer: ask him to look how many of ours have been arrested at Euro and domestic aways in the last 5/10 years. I imagine the figures would undermine any fears about alcohol fuelled mass misbehaviour.
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=247269.0
