Talk about adding insult to disappointment.
The city of Boston spent $450,000 on police overtime for the nights of Games 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals to subdue victory celebrations that ended up never happening, The Associated Press reports.
Matthew Cahill, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, told the Boston Herald that the Celtics should help pay for some of the extra costs. A police spokesman disagreed, claiming the city has always paid for extra security at victory celebrations.
On June 15 and 17, thousands of officers were deployed around greater Boston to prevent a repeat of the 2008 celebration of the Celtics’ 17th banner, which took a deadly turn when David Woodman, a 22-year-old college student, stopped breathing and died as police arrested him in the chaos of the citywide celebration.
There turned out to be no need for the exponential increase in police forces this year, as the Celtics lost both Games 6 and 7 in Los Angeles, sending Boston bargoers home downtrodden.
