By Tom Kertscher
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GREEN BAY — Police and other emergency responders who have to work this evening might be unhappy about having to miss the Green Bay Packers game.
But if it’s any consolation, their burden should be light -- Packers games, it seems, have the power to cut crime and ease emotional distress.
According to some law enforcement and mental health agencies, calls to 911 and to crisis lines fall off dramatically when the Green and Gold hit the gridiron.
Milwaukee police say they notice a lull in calls during Packers games. And in Racine, things seem to slow to a crawl.
“Usually we’re pretty dead during the Packer games,” said Racine police Sgt. Tim Koetting, pointing out that most everyone is glued to their TV sets. “Even our criminal element is dedicated, seems like.”
Others agree — and there are even some statistics to say it’s so.
The Waukesha County 911 dispatch center received 98 calls during the Packers’ playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks on the afternoon of Jan. 12, a Saturday. That was 40% less than the average of 163 calls during the same period on the previous five Saturdays, when the Packers didn’t play.
“There are more people at home watching the game and not doing other things,” said Richard Tuma, the county’s director of emergency preparedness. “People aren’t on the roads.”
The Mental Health Association in Waukesha County also did some checking. It found that calls to its 211/First Call for Help line were as much as 20% lower during Packers games this fall, compared with Sundays during the spring.
Jane DeGeorge, the association’s programs director, said she was pleased to find that Packers games seem to bring relief to people who have mental illness or need other types of assistance.
“It’s just being able to take your mind off your troubles for a time,” she said.
A little after 5:30 p.m. today, when Green Bay takes on the New York Giants in the biggest Packers game of the season, expect more tranquility.
“When the game is going on, it’s pretty much a ghost town” in and around Kewaunee, said Kewaunee County Sheriff Matt Joski. Joski, who will be volunteering for charity at one of the Lambeau Field refreshment stands today, said the only other time things get so quiet is when the high school football team plays at state.
Outside of the activity in and around Lambeau Field, police expect quiet in Green Bay.
“It seems like when the Packers are winning and doing well, everybody’s there watching TV. Nobody’s going to miss the game,” said Green Bay police Capt. Karl Fleury.
If there’s a gray lining here, it’s that the game has to end. And, not coincidentally, it seems, that’s when the emergency lines start ringing again.
Road traffic picks up, police say, and so do some tempers.
“Sometimes you have more of your family fights. Kind of like the holidays,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Jill Raffay, supervisor of Washington County’s dispatch services.
Koetting, the Racine sergeant, said he’s noticed in his 20 years on the force that domestic disturbances seem more prevalent after a Packers loss.
“Hopefully, they don’t lose,” he said of the Packers and today’s game, “because then we’ll be busier. People tend to get angry when the Packers lose.”
Copyright 2008 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel