Regatta Crimes Down

Despite the 200,000 people who swarmed Harvard Square and the banks of the Charles River for yesterday's Head of the Charles regatta, local police and hospital officials said the weekend was relatively incident free.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary," said Cambridge Police Det. Frank Pasquarello yesterday afternoon. "It was very quiet."

Harvard police concurred, adding that the problems of past regattas seem to have subsided.

Four years ago, the University increased expenditures on police and security for the weekend, according to Acting Chief Lawrence J. Murphy of the Harvard University Police Department. Murphy said the result has been a reduced number of arrests and injuries.

Both Harvard and Cambridge police said last night that there were no problems following the regatta yesterday.

"Hospitals, too noticed a decrease in incidents.

"For the first time in years it hasn't affected us," said Dr. Mike D. Schwartz of Mt. Auburn Hospital's emergency room.

"I don't think there was anything major," he said. "It did not seem to be terribly busy."

But Schwartz said hospital admissions "usually [increase] as the regatta breaks up."

A Mt. Auburn Hospital emergency room spokesperson confirmed last night that admissions were up following the conclusion of the regatta. But the official was unable to provide details.

A University Health Services spokesperson said there were no unusual incidents over the weekend.