It's funny you said that. The cops actually were pretty cool, but told people around us that if they had been yelling repeatedly like that at the referees, they could've been tossed with consequences. But, yelling at a 19 year old kid = warning. I agree though, the AD should've been notified and done something. That is, if the AD cared about basketball.
Strange priorities for the cops, right? Thanks for this info.
It is on the AD.
When I used to work high school events (mostly wrestling but also basketball and occasionally some others) we almost always had a deputy sheriff there to lend a sense of authority.
They explained to us from the start though that unless a fan was clearly violating a law (physically assaulting somebody, making credible threats, being on school grounds under the influence, etc.) that it was on us to draw the line and initiate the interaction with the fan(s) involved. Making crude or unsportsmanlike comments, violating dress code, and similar things were violations of the rules of the venue but not the law.
It was on us as the school to initiate the removal of a fan for violation of our standards. This usually meant having the administrator on duty or one of our district security personnel inform the persons involved that they were in violation of the conduct expectations and had to leave, this would be done in the presence of the deputy.
If an official requested a person be removed the school representative would immediately go with the deputy to initiate the process.
If the person refused then it became a matter of trespassing which the deputy could and would use as legal justification to give a lawful order to leave. If this order was ignored or resisted it then became failure to comply with a lawful order which elevated the officers ability to respond.
Point is that the AD has the responsibility to determine what they will and will not accept and how they will respond be it a warning, a warning followed by expulsion from the arena, or immediate removal. These expectations need to be communicated to events staff in advance and supported by the AD staff at the event. The role of the cops is not to determine what the rules are or how to enforce them. They simply provide legal support for the implementation of the AD standards.