OPINION & EDITORIAL
MPD miffs upstanding citizens
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Also by Bassey Etim:
- Politics only way in life's struggles (May 6, 2008)
- MPD miffs upstanding citizens (April 29, 2008)
- Media a mirror of public desire (April 22, 2008)
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- Anything short of a riot (April 27, 2006)
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- Rock around the block (September 8, 2005)
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by Bassey Etim
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The city has sanctioned a neighborhood block party. Droves of college students weary from a year of studies will arrive early in the morning to drink beer and pal around with strangers. Many of the street’s residents have been preparing for the party all year and invite friends to enjoy a keg in the yard.
One of these friends gets animated while telling a story, and his left foot slides onto the sidewalk while he holds a beer. Police officers swoop in, handcuff the student and take him to a nearby parking lot where fines will be assessed. Another friend decides to lighten the mood by plugging in her guitar and performing a song; everyone joins in with tambourines, bongos and washboards. The police swoop in yet again with a $172 noise violation ticket in hand because the song was clearly audible three houses down — regardless of whether anyone complained.
This is Madison’s vision of justice.
America’s obsession with puritanical, counter-productive law enforcement is embodied in the Mifflin Street Block Party. The obsession stems from a philosophy that says it’s acceptable to make average citizens into criminals for the sake of imposing a rigid moral code. It’s a philosophy that has earned our nation a fifth of the world’s prison population. It’s a philosophy that has earned us an endless drug war that has long been lost. And, on a much smaller scale, it’s a philosophy that earns students a hefty fine for playing loud music at a house while thousands of revelers party in the streets. According to this dictum, the application of common sense while enforcing the law is an unreasonable burden.
Disclaimer: I am a Mifflin Street resident. Last week, Madison Police Department officers went door-to-door down the street, under the guise of building a working relationship with the party’s many hosts. But in reality, they passed out brochures and gave short speeches detailing all the reasons they’re going to arrest us. The officers even took pains to applaud themselves for having the courtesy to conduct the ludicrous exercise.
I foolishly tried to bargain with the officers, pointing out that City Council President Mike Verveer urged them to consider relaxing noise ordinance laws for the party. But the annoyed officers shot back, insisting that that Mr. Verveer had no authority here. The department would blindly enforce the rule, willfully ignoring the context in which it was created and the voice of the people making the laws.
Of course, one question was noticeably absent from these police briefings: Why?
Why does our city conduct this ridiculous game? Can a band heard three doors down really disturb the peace of a party encompassing an entire street? Does putting one shoelace on the line of a sidewalk truly represent a safety risk? Does the distinction between a truly criminal act and innocuous human error even matter? Or does the individual no longer matter when law enforcement treats us as a mindless, intent-less herd?
Come Friday, the MPD will offer us their disturbing answers to all of these questions. Perhaps you will receive these answers right after they pose with you for that fake police brutality picture you want for your Facebook profile.
Yes, the party devolved into violence years ago, and reasonable regulations like the glass ban are certainly appropriate. But current students should not be punished for the ills of previous generations, and such restrictive sanctions — that don’t ensure public safety — should be considered little more than punishment.
In the face of this impending law enforcement bonanza, it’s easy to say, “Oh well, just follow the rules, and you won’t get in trouble,” or “Who cares if a bunch of over-privileged drunks get a ticket?” These complaints are valid for everyone who doesn’t see the ideological disgrace of a police department willfully taking advantage of otherwise law-abiding citizens. We live in a nation where the law is executed by faithful public servants, not imposed on the populace for the sake of bolstering the city’s coffers or an outrageously broad interpretation of their mandate to “protect and serve.”
And the city has sanctioned this party, whose intrinsic element — drinking in public during the day — is met with stiff fines by that same city. The malicious treatment of Mifflin Street Block Party attendees through a set of arcane logic-deficient rules is disgraceful. Criminalizing the harmless actions of the common man is far beyond the dictate of any government and an underhanded breach of our social contract with law enforcement. But the city has sanctioned this party, too. And you can win an invite to the parking lot hoe-down by taking one half-step over an imaginary line.
Bassey Etim (betim@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 2:25am):
Well, Madison has to pay for a police presence at Mifflin. And the only way to pay for that is to write a lot of tickets. And the only way to do that is to have police presence at Mifflin.
Seems like circular reasoning to me.
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 9:05am):
Laws against everything and abitrary enforcement - that's the legal system of these here United States.
Now with tasers for extra enjoyment!
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 1:12pm):
Hail the MPD overlords!
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 2:44pm):
Respect their authoritah!
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 2:47pm):
I completely agree with you, but I'm curious, how do you feel about our immigration laws?
Anonymous (April 29, 2008 @ 11:06pm):
good article. i think we need a little boston tea party here in madison
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