Madison Police Department representatives conveyed the dangers of this year’s Mifflin Street Block Party at the Mifflin Neighborhood Association meeting, citing an increase in arrests and the unpredictable behavior of partygoers.
At the meeting Thursday evening, MPD representatives recalled moments of this year’s Mifflin Block Party, saying it was not safe.
“It was just a very unsafe, dangerous, ridiculous event,” MPD Officer Christine Hill said.
Hill said although she did not know of any injuries at the event, she does not think the situation went better than last year in terms of how difficult it was to control the crowds and the large amount of underage drinking. This year, there were nearly 400 arrests, compared to 171 last year.
She added that aside from the main block party, there were also a number of pre-parties or parties on other streets such as Langdon.
“We have been totally engulfed in everything Mifflin in the past two months, and that’s pretty much what we have worked on,” she said. “It was a one-day event, and it took nearly all of our resources.”
Scott Kolar, an association member, said one large difference he noticed between this year and last was there were nearly as many police officers as there were partiers in the morning. Hill said many partiers started to come out in the afternoon.
Hill added while the police were trying to control the crowds, many students were not listening and needed repeated warnings. She said the police managed to “take down” a few partiers.
“We set up a perimeter so that we could see what was happening,” she said. “And kids started chanting.”
During the meeting, members of the association started to question whether more news coverage on the harmful effects of the party could raise students’ awareness. Larry Warman, chair of the association, said students would not believe the content and would go anyway.
Hill said most party hosts or partiers went with good intentions, believing the party would not get out of control. However, she said as the party went on, individuals’ behavior became unpredictable.
She said this year she had residents coming up to the police and asking them to help clear out partiers whom they did not know.
“They just couldn’t control the mass,” Hill said. “They don’t get it in their minds how difficult it is to control the crowds. It was a very long and hard day for us.”
Mary Kolar, a member of the association, said some business owners were frustrated because their operations were affected. There were also pictures of arrests taken by reporters in front of their stores.
Indy Stluka, a Mifflin Street resident, said some of his friends went to the block party, and they appreciated the cooperation between residents and police.
“Overall, [students] liked that it was a little bit more low-key with attendance number and their backyards weren’t completely demolished,” he said. “Police also helped them to escort some people out that they didn’t want to be there.”
He added he was happy to know there were no reported assaults against policemen that day.
