Since riots erupted during the Mifflin Street Block Party in 1996, the Madison Police Department has had a vested interest in planning the party and maintaining good relations with residents of the area.
Monday evening, MPD representatives made their interest known by attending the neighborhood’s meeting concerning Saturday’s block party.
The MPD presented their expectations for Saturday and introduced the compromise they made with Mifflin residents regarding the closure of the street.
Over 350 Mifflin-area residents had signed a petition to close Mifflin Street to vehicles during the block party. Captain John Davenport said the MPD denied the petition’s proposal but came to a compromise with Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
“We would like to help keep it a neighborhood residential party,” Davenport said. “Once we have the street blocked off, we can’t do that.”
Davenport said the MPD has agreed to allow students out in the street, provided no alcohol leaves the houses.
“We have agreed this year to accommodate people who want to go out and toss the ball around, but vehicle traffic will still be allowed through,” he said. “That many people in a confined area makes our job much more difficult, so we try to keep the street open.”
Mifflin resident Aaron Schwartz said the party last year was fun, but he was displeased with the amount of police officers patrolling the street.
The same number of officers will cover Mifflin Street this year. Twenty officers will patrol the street and backyards beginning at noon, with 20 additional officers by 7 p.m.
Students at the block party will be required to keep alcohol off the sidewalk and street and keep noise to a minimum after nightfall, due to neighborhood complaints.
Lt. Brian Ackeret said the MPD’s policy on house parties will be reasonable.
“Beer can be in the house and yard, but once it hits the sidewalk, that’s our line in the sand,” Ackeret said. “If we are invited into your house to take care of a problem, we will take care of it and leave, but if we’re not invited and we see that you have no control over the situation — over who is in your house — we may think about giving citations.”
Verveer estimated that the MPD gave out five tickets last year — roughly half of which were for marijuana use.
Fire-safety issues were also addressed at the meeting. Fire department officials recommended grilling out on driveways rather than porches, due to the instability of old wooden frames of the Mifflin houses. They said if one house caught fire, it would take all of the fire department’s resources to keep the fire from spreading to the next house because the houses are so close to each other.
Davenport said public meetings are important so students know why the MPD takes a hard line on certain issues.
“We are here to make sure you can have a good time,” Davenport said. “Just use common sense and know who is at your house party.”
