Last Monday night, as the Philadelphia Phillies were taking on the St. Louis Cardinals, a male hopped a fence at Citizens Bank Park and ran on to the field of play. It was nothing new as a minority of spectators have been doing this for quite some time. But what authorities did to corral the male was out of the ordinary, as 17-year-old Steve Consalvi was chased down and instead of the usual tackle, was tasered by authorities.
It didn’t take long for discussion to break out about whether this was a prime example of cruel and unusual punishment. Sports talk shows and their hosts seemed to condemn those who decided tasering was the appropriate action, saying a simple tackle would have done the trick or that putting the “kid” at risk of death from the tasering is enough to condemn its usage. On the other hand though, the Philadelphia police commissioner publicly supported the actions taken by authorities while he was supported for supporting the authorities by Philadelphia’s mayor.
For those who disagreed with the tasering, one of the main points of emphasis was on the fan’s age. At 17-years-old, should a minor be subjected to something so painful? A lot of rhetoric was thrown around, highlighting the age of the person that got tased. What is missed with this point though is that the authorities involved with making the decision almost certainly had no idea the fan was a minor. Even at age 17, is he not old enough to understand that running on the field is viewed, by many, to be a safety and injury risk to the players on the field?
But that’s not the only uncertainly. Many people against the tasing also felt it was clear he meant no harm to anyone. But the fact of the matter is, just because someone running around on a field doesn’t look harmless doesn’t mean they automatically are. It is incredibly easy to sneak a knife, a gun or even a bomb into a stadium, and just because the fan isn’t running around waving the previously mentioned objects doesn’t mean he isn’t carrying them on him. Take for instance the case of when, at a Chicago White Sox-Kansas City Royal game at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, fans attacked Royal coach Tom Gamboa with a switchblade. They looked harmless enough, and the approach security took was to tackle them. Look how that turned out.
Saying Consalvi posed no real threat is to show a great amount of ignorance toward what could potentially happen when anyone runs on the field. It would be extremely easy for anyone to act harmlessly like some feel Consalvi did, only to quickly dart toward a player and stab them, or shoot them or detonate a bomb. And with the game happening so close to the aftermath of the terrorist scare happening in Times Square, should this type of approach really be condemned?
Although the authorities involved with making the decision to use a taser on Consalvi didn’t have time to think of the long-term ramifications of their decision, it may have been one of the better split-second decisions in the long run. If fans now know that getting tased for running on to the field of play is a possibility, maybe it will prevent people from doing it. Although people will likely still do it, and even some have since the tasing incident, hopefully the number of people at least attempting it will decrease. And if this happens, the likelihood of anyone ever getting injured again from a crazed fan that runs on to the field will greatly be decreased.
By purchasing a ticket to a game one is not given the right to rush the field, nor do they gain the right to at least give off the impression that someone else’s safety could be at risk, whether it be a superstar athlete, a no-name umpire or just some average fan. However, running on to the field of play should earn the person doing it a tasing. Now that the precedent has been sent, the punishment should be expected. And yes, it is justified.
