No more riots

Police spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said yesterday that officials would be meeting with Northeastern and Boston universities to plan a better response. State Police, on hand for the Patriots victory parade Tuesday, ought to be involved as well. The mayhem Sunday night reflects badly on Massachusetts.

In the Fenway neighborhood, where the worst trouble occurred, officials at Northeastern and the Boston Police had towed cars from Hemenway Street to prevent a recurrence of arson that followed the 2002 Super Bowl. Troublemakers congregated on Symphony Road instead. The police and campus security forces need to create a flexible deployment plan to cope with the unexpected.

The mayor said yesterday in a telephone interview that he wants to restrict drinking in dormitories. That's hard to do when many students are 21 or older and conventional apartments are interspersed with student housing. The city needs to focus on preventing trouble when it is most likely to occur: immediately after a championship game involving a local team.

The police are disputing a Globe report that not enough officers were immediately available at potential trouble spots. Extra units were on call, and campus security forces were beefed up, but the meager number of arrests -- three on Symphony Road and two summonses issued in Kenmore Square -- suggest a failure of will to enforce the law.

Universities are a vital part of the city. Young people will be taught a valuable lesson in responsibility when police and school officials clamp down on alcohol-fueled rioting.