Medical Cases Majority Of Open Calls

The majority of police calls received during the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club between Monday, June 11, and Sunday, June 17, were for people who required medical assistance for heat related illnesses, Southampton Town police said.

The department, which was the lead law enforcement agency heading up a 31-agency public safety team stationed at a Joint Operations Center at the Open, had received more than 100 calls over the week as of Sunday afternoon, according to Lt. Susan Ralph.

Sixty-five of those calls came into the JOC on Saturday alone, one of the days with the highest attendance, and were attributed to medical cases. The calls included those to the center itself, calls generated by officers at the Open, and 911 calls transferred to the center. On Saturday, there were 192 emergency medical services calls, in which people needing help, mostly for heat-related illnesses such as dehydration, were responded to in EMS tents or were treated in the field.

As of Sunday afternoon, there was only one arrest reported, that of a man charged with stealing money from a cash register. That arrest is covered on page 29.

Police also responded to some calls for trespassing after receiving reports of scalpers on the golf course.

“You are not allowed to do that, so we had trespass affidavits signed and they had to go,” Lt. Ralph said.

Police also responded to several other reported thefts from concessions stands.

peggy@indyeastend.com