Published July 16, 2010

Bracing for widespread celebration and rioting after the Celtics’ inevitable victory in the NBA Finals, Boston Police spent nearly half a million dollars on overtime pay to put nearly 3,200 cops on the streets, the Herald reports. They wore face shields and wielded batons. It was quite a display.

But the Celts lost. Mass mourning ensued. (Seriously. I was at a bar downtown. It felt like a funeral.) Now the BPD says the team should foot at least part of the bill. No comment yet from the C’s.

An additional thought: It’s interesting timing on the PD’s plea, on the same day it’s reported that BPD supervisors will get a 14 percent pay raise to account for the fact that they don’t get overtime pay, as officers do.