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Officials provide tips for block party
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by Cara Harshman
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
More than 50 Mifflin Street residents and students gathered Tuesday night to learn how to avoid behavior that could possibly cost them hundreds of dollars in fines at Saturday’s block party, and a petition to relax the city’s noise ordinance for the party failed to garner police support.
Officials from Madison Police and Fire Departments warned residents to look out for a laundry list of risky behaviors, like overcrowded porches, loud bands, open kegs and curious high school students.
Police Captain Mary Schauf said the police presence on the street will be strong in order to keep the thousands of partiers safe, not to make thousands of dollars in citations including those for noise violations, a hot topic at the meeting.
“My staff has committed that we will attempt to talk to you and give you a warning ahead of time. We just ask that you cooperate and turn it down a little bit,” Schauf said, responding to a resident’s question about the police policy about noise control. “Sometimes our experience has been that people just don’t want to cooperate, and in that case, we’ll write the ticket.”
The fine for “unreasonable noise,” defined by police as noise that can be heard three houses away, is $172.
University of Wisconsin junior Tom Wangard presented his petition on the noise ordinance, signed by more than 150 residents to officers at the meeting, with little response from police.
Police said they will also be writing tickets for noticeably overcrowded parties, especially balconies or porches which pose a safety hazard in the event they collapse.
Fire Marshall Ed Ruckriegal said houses on Mifflin Street are meant to hold about 50 people maximum and are considered overcrowded when people are standing shoulder to shoulder.
When officers notice porches starting to cave in, Community Policing Team officer Dave McCaw said “panic mode” starts. In that case, McCaw said police can enter a house without a warrant because the situation is imminent, and they don’t have time to obtain one.
Residents also were concerned that anyone might be fair game to be asked for identification at any party if police think the person looks underage or is drawing attention to him or herself.
“For a person who is just enjoying themselves, not drawing any attention from the police, that is extremely rare,” McCaw said.
Each arrest case for possessing alcohol underage or dispensing alcohol will be investigated independently, Schauf said.
Of the more than 10,000 people from last year’s bash, 366 were arrested — mostly for going on public property (the sidewalk or street) with an open container — and three houses received noise citations, a comparatively miniscule percentage compared to how many people came out.
People arrested at the party are placed in plastic handcuffs and escorted to one of two buses, where they wait to go receive a citation at the City-County building near the Capitol. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who represents the Mifflin neighborhood, said people are “arrested,” but that really means they will be cited and released within a few hours.
“Don’t freak out if you see your friend being ‘arrested,’ being put in plastic handcuffs and being walked away, it means they are going to be busy for the next several hours, but they will be released, and they aren’t going to jail, so you don’t have to bail them out,” Verveer said.
The fine for possessing an open container on a public street or sidewalk is $298.
McCaw also gave residents his work cell phone number in case their parties get out of hand, volunteering to “be the bad guy” and kick everyone out of a house.
UW junior Joe St. Peter, resident of the 500 block of Mifflin, said the meeting was very informative and hopes his party does not turn out like his Halloween party last fall, when he received $9,000 in fines.
“I’m going to heed the cops’ advice and probably not have a band,” St. Peter said.
Wangard said the meeting was more of a one-way street, in which police gave residents information without discussing the noise ordinance.
“I think over the past 40 years there haven’t been as many problems and as many hoops to jump through with police as we see today,” Wangard added. “Time will tell.”
Anonymous (April 30, 2008 @ 8:28am):
McCaw gave people his cell phone number?!?! I got an idea, why don't i just call up 911 personally to get my thousands of dollars worth of fines
Anonymous (April 30, 2008 @ 11:59am):
Officer McCaw provides his number every year. If your party gets out of control, you can call him and he'll kick everybody out and not ticket you.
It's a one-time irreversible offer though, so don't start up again afterwards.
Anonymous (April 30, 2008 @ 12:46pm):
Why is it that the City of Madison cannot lift the noise ordinance during the Mifflin Street Block Party out of "concern" for the other residents on the street, yet everyone can look the other way during Halloween weekend on State Street? We don't have any "concern" for the residents of State Street? That's right; it all comes down to the bottom line: money.
Anonymous (April 30, 2008 @ 1:29pm):
You might be surprised how many residents will take McCaw up on his offer...the people living on Mifflin are on the hook for thousands of dollars of fines if their party gets out of control (which they have virtually no control over). Do a preemptive strike and call the cops and residents probably won't get fined.
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