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MPD planning for Halloween crowd on Oct. 31

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Related stories:

• MPD prepares for strict enforcment (September 30, 2005)
• City continues Halloween planning (October 27, 2003)
• Overhead camera helps to monitor the Halloween crowd (November 20, 2003)
• MPD: Plan earlier for Halloween (November 17, 2006)
• City, UW hoping for safe Halloween (October 28, 2004)

Also by Melanie Truhn:

• Chancellor speaks at neighborhood meeting (November 21, 2003)
• State confusion over burial grounds (October 15, 2003)
• Willy Street Co-op turns 30 (October 17, 2003)
• Coffee Store Added to Downtown Area (October 22, 2003)
• Fall festival to bring back detoured customers (October 23, 2003)

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As October rolls on, Madison police officers are planning for Halloween night in Madison. They believe the majority of crowds will be out Thursday, Oct. 31, not the weekends before and after.

“We will be doing preparations for Halloween night, because it is on a Thursday, not in the middle of the week,” Captain George Silverwood said.

Last year the holiday fell on a Wednesday, which prompted revelers to celebrate on the weekend instead of the actual day.

Silverwood speculated that the weekends will probably be mostly locals and Thursday night will be when the large crowds are out around town.

Madison Police Department spokesman Larry Kamholz said he is unsure if there will be extra officers on duty over the weekends, saying the department is still in the process of planning for the holiday.

Silverwood is in charge of Halloween planning and is working on assigning officers to State Street, Langdon Street and University Avenue, as well as coordinating traffic control.

The exact number of officers that will be on duty is not yet known, but last year there were over a hundred total working traffic and on all streets.

Silverwood said he expects numbers to be higher than last year, because they found themselves pulling officers off street patrol to work traffic control.

Silverwood stressed students should use caution on Halloween when deciding what to wear, saying they should not be wearing costumes that may be threatening to others. Kamholz said police officers will make contact with anyone who has any object that could potentially look threatening and either have the owner get rid of it or officers will confiscate it.

Silverwood said he is concerned about drinking and crowds on State Street.

“The biggest concern last year was a crush situation, there was a lot of pushing, and some people nearly got trampled,” said Silverwood.

However, people were mostly polite last year, Silverwood said. There were limited problems occurring at bar time.

Kamholz said one important factor of preparation for Halloween is moving the bike racks. Beginning Oct. 23 and running through Halloween, all bike racks will be moved off of State Street, and any bikes remaining on the street will be removed by the police department.

Kamholz said he hopes to find places close to State Street to place the racks so there will still be convenient places to park.

“We want to secure the enjoyment and safety of those who come out to take a part in the festivities on State Street,” Kamholz said.