As students and town citizens debate who is to blame for Saturday's riot, town officials and police are patting each other on the back, congratulating the swift reaction the police had to the mostly intoxicated crowd that gathered on Beaver Avenue.

The police quelled a crowd of 2,500 students in what seemed like the beginning stages of a full-blown riot similar to the now-infamous 1998 riot, which also occurred during the Arts Festival weekend that summer. The police, true to their word after learning a lesson from the last riot, were well-trained and well-equipped to deal with a drunken mob that appeared on Beaver Avenue.

Yet, many students, from those who were mere witnesses to those who were involved in the riot, have complained that the riot began not when the crowd gathered, but when the police pulled out their riot gear.

Perhaps it was a little of both.

Nevertheless, the question remains of which party is to blame for the riot.

Although the question of who is to blame will never be fully answered, a third-party investigation of the riot is necessary to appease both the students and the town, and to help heal the ever-widening rift between the two.

Yes, some of the students were at fault. Some of the students involved with the riot were out of line and deserved to be pepper sprayed.

Some students, however, have come forward to us and alleged that members of the police force unnecessarily assaulted them, both physically and verbally. We encourage students who truly believe they were wronged to file a complaint with the police department.

Until they choose to do so, the police are under no obligation to conduct any sort of internal investigation.

We also encourage students who were involved with the riot to examine their consciences. Students who were bystanders at the riot should ask themselves if the police asked them to move out of the way, and whether they obeyed. If they didn't obey, the police reaction was most likely justified.

Similarly, the police officers involved should ask themselves if they used too much force to make gawkers and bystanders clear the area. They should ask themselves how they would feel if they were parents of students who were red-eyed and puffy-faced from being sprayed because they didn't move out of the way quickly enough.

In a way, the riot didn't stop.

The students and citizens of this town need to work together to find a way to resolve this conflict and ensure that it doesn't ever happen again.