The University of Wisconsin Police Department and Madison residents have not yet reached a compromise regarding vehicle searches on Breese Terrace during Saturday football games.
Immediately following last year’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the UWPD began conducting searches of all vehicles entering Breese Terrace during home games.
On Sept. 10 of this year, the Department for Homeland Security increased the security issue for gatherings at places such as Camp Randall from a moderate Code Yellow to a Code Orange, the second-highest alert status. Security was once again decreased Sept. 24 to a Code Yellow.
According to UWPD chief Sue Reiseling, the searches are generally conducted using dogs trained to find explosives. During a Code Orange, because of stricter security, if dogs are unavailable, police officers search the interior of any entering vehicles.
Some Breese Terrace residents are angry because due to heightened security, they are unable to enter their homes during UW football games
“Under Code Orange, by vehicle, [residents] have no access to their homes. Any traffic is considered a security risk,” Reiseling said. “We want to prevent someone from setting off a car bomb on Breese Terrace and collapsing the upper deck of Camp Randall. There are 80,000 people in Camp Randall and around the neighborhood during football games. These people rely on me, my judgment, experience, training, and background, to provide them with the best safety measures.”
Still, not everyone agrees with the UWPD’s security measures.
“This amount of security is extreme,” said Ald. Tom Powell, District 11. “I have no problem with restricting access to Breese Terrace with barricades, or only letting those with proof of residency into their houses. Interior car searches, though, are crossing a clean line.
“This worst-case scenario — of a person packing explosives into their trunk, getting past security and explosive-sniffing dogs, having false identification saying that they are Breese Terrace residents, and blowing up the explosives to take out the upper deck — is just bizarre. You can’t pack that much explosives into a trunk. You’d need a rider truck full of ammonium nitrate for that type of damage. It would be much easier to rent a small airplane and drive it into the stadium”.
Powell also said because Breese Terrace is not University of Wisconsin property, the UWPD is operating out of their jurisdiction.
“If they want to search someone on a University street or University property, that’s OK,” he said. “But the UWPD is operating on city property. This is not their jurisdiction, and they have no authority by the city to do so. They are not being stopped by anyone, but no one ever allowed them to do what they are doing.”
Reiseling, however, says that the UWPD does, in fact, have the right to operate on Breese Terrace.
“Under state statute, the UWPD has concurrent jurisdiction with the Madison Police Department on any street on campus or adjoining to the university,” Reiseling said.
The Regent Neighborhood Association formed a subcommittee aimed at reaching a compromise with the UWPD regarding the searches.
“We’ve been working with the university and the city on security measures, providing input into the security measures that the UWPD is putting into place,” said Bruce Kahn, a member of the subcommittee and Regent Neighborhood Association. “We have met with the mayor, UWPD chief, Chancellor Wiley, and expressed our concerns. During game days, residents can’t get in and out of their homes during certain hours. At a meeting last Monday, Chief Reiseling said that she would write us a proposal for a compromise before the Penn. State game this Saturday. We haven’t seen it yet.”
Reiseling, however, said that she has no plans for a new proposal.
“I already have a plan,” she said. “It varies depending on the security we’re under. My understanding is that [the subcommittee] is writing a proposal. I’ll look at it, but I’m not rewriting anything.”
