OPINION & EDITORIAL
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by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Today, the Halloween Planning Committee, which includes members of the Madison Police Department, the Tavern League and various other public officials, will hold a meeting to discuss alternatives to prevent the riots and sheer pandemonium that has occurred on State Street during the last few Halloweens.
We fear the city has not learned from the mistakes of years past.
Public proposals floating around would encourage bars to "voluntarily" stop serving alcohol early and impose a curfew on the downtown area. Such plans are misguided and will ultimately exacerbate the problem.
Two central factors involved in previous Halloween riots include the onslaught of inebriated revelers leaving the bars en masse at bar time and the preemptive crowd control measures taken by law enforcement officials, aggravating revelers determined to riot. The current proposals do not address these problems.
Proposals to adjust bar time will do nothing to prevent rioting, they will merely adjust the time a riot occurs. Likewise, the inevitable clashes with police at curfew time will do more to incite a riot than it will to prevent one.
Given the trouble caused by such proposals, we suggest a more plausible alternative. Bars should not be forced to close November 1. If bars remained open all night, revelers would leave the taverns in a steadier stream throughout the evening, therefore, hopefully diffusing the critical mass that fueled past riots.
Unfortunately, there is an obstacle to this plan. State law forces bars to close at 2 a.m., with an exception on New Year's Day, when bars are not required to close. We would like to see this law changed to include Halloween. The state legislature should take it upon itself to enact legislation that would allow bar closing time to be extended for this occasion.
In addition, we believe the city should not impose a curfew in the area, as it will only serve to incite rioters.
We believe this proposal would address the main factors that have contributed to past riots, without negatively affecting a time-honored Madison tradition. Perhaps this year's celebration won't send us home crying.
Anonymous (September 13, 2005 @ 11:00am):
people are now flocking to madison halloween to seek and cause trouble on halloween. Bottom line, it will take a miracle to prevent more chaos at this point, which is such a shame. 30 years of wonderful celebration and my crystal ball says this is the last year before we wave goodbye. The day has been hijacked by out of towners seeking mayhem. It's a viscious cycle that unfortunatly, has to be snapped.
Anonymous (September 13, 2005 @ 7:38pm):
There is a reason that all the kids that flock here from UW-Stout, UW-Whitewater, ect ect are in those given institutions. most of these kids would never even be allowed to sent Madison an application, let alone being accepted into the school. Why don't we just keep them banned from coming here at all and ruining our school?
Justin Hein (September 13, 2005 @ 9:45pm):
In theory, not having a bar time is a good plan... in theory. However, in the immortal words of Homer J. Simpson, "in theory communism works, in theory."
Seriously, why the heck not. Everything they tried last time failed miserably. However, they likelihood of this being the course those in planning take is about as likely as seeing the city make all bars stay closed the entire day of Halloween. That is, not likely.
Justin Hein (September 13, 2005 @ 9:47pm):
I agree with anonymous. It has only been an out-of-control problem the last three years, and those problems stem from the influx of immature citizens of other states on Halloween. Maybe, Madison should fund a kick-ace Halloween party in Whitewater, WI and or La Crosse, WI to compete with Madison for the out-of-staters attention.
