Bridgewater-Raritan Fights Appear Random, Chief Says

It seems to be random fights being filmed and placed on Facebook, Bridgewater Township Police Chief Richard Borden said Wednesday about "BRHS Fights," a new page that launched on the social media site March 14.

The Facebook page, called BRHS Fights, was started March 14, according to records on the public page, and showed videos of fights both inside and outside the school building. They included a lunch period fight, another on the grounds across from the entrance and others, with the latest published March 17.

More than 1,000 people had already "liked" the fledgling page as of Wednesday morning.

But also as of Wednesday morning, the five videos that had been posted were no longer visible on the page, and a message from the creator of the page stated "I would rather stay anonymous then be known as the idiot who got caught."

Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the status of the district's investigation into the page.

But Borden said that the department had been made aware of the Facebook site last week.

"At this time, it appears random fights between students with no association to each other are being filmed and placed on this site," he said. "This does not appear to be an organized group of individuals that go to a predetermined location and fight."

Instead, Borden said, they are fights that are occurring randomly and are filmed and placed on the site.

Schilder said Tuesday that there had been a large number of fights, seven, in a small amount of time between March 1 and March 15, but that there have been no more fights reported at the school since March 15.

Click here for the district's take on the Facebook page.

"Obviously we do not want students being encouraged to fight just for the sole reason of having the encounter viewed on Facebook," Borden said.

As with any fight in a school setting requiring a police investigation, Borden said, a determination is made if there is a clear-cut aggressor.

"And if so, legal ramifications will be explored against the individuals," he said. "Each fight/assault that occurs is looked upon individually to determine if a police investigation is warranted. Video clips placed on Facebook could be used for investigative purposes."

But at this point, Borden said, none of the fights are being investigated for that purpose.

"I would not want to comment on what exactly the district is doing, but I would just state if we were to deem any activity to be of a criminal nature, we would investigate," he said.