As officials continue to promote a stricter version of the Mifflin Street Block Party, the Madison Police Department recently informed 11 surrounding universities of its stringent guidelines and expectations for party participants.
According to MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain, the department sent emails to a number of University of Wisconsin System campuses, including UW-Whitewater, UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville, UW-Stout, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Oshkosh.
The University of Iowa, University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota were also contacted.
DeSpain said the email’s intent is to inform out-of-town schools that the block party will be vastly different from past years.
“We’ve been in conversations with a lot of shareholders about how this event is going to unfold on Saturday and to make sure they understand before they get here that this isn’t the event it was last year,” DeSpain said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said MPD used research compiled from past block parties concerning which colleges received the most arrests to reach out to prospective out-of-town participants in an attempt to decrease numbers at the event.
A response from the schools is not expected, according to DeSpain.
MPD Lieut. David McCaw stressed the importance of informing out-of-town students that law enforcement will be more stringent, allowing them to make an informed decision about attending Mifflin.
“It can be a warning, or it can also be a caution,” McCaw said. “It depends on who we’re talking to.”
DeSpain added that in addition to informing area universities, emails were sent out to all Madison metropolitan high schools in an effort to discourage their students from attending the event.
He added the event has seen high numbers of high school students in the past, and MPD does not believe it is a safe environment for them because of the focus on alcohol.
“The high school students’ inability to regulate intake [of alcohol] and make good decisions is not good,” McCaw said.
Verveer said MPD hopes to get its message across through other strategies, including the use of Facebook and other social media websites.
“This year, the police are going about the event with a new strategy in mind, and that strategy is a zero tolerance approach to any violations of the law,” Verveer said.
Verveer said although he is unsure the emails will prove to be an effective strategy to create a safer environment at Mifflin, the initiative was worthwhile because past statistics have revealed the majority of people arrested each year at the block party are not UW students.
DeSpain also stressed the importance of complying with police officers at the event.
“There’s nobody here that doesn’t want people to have fun, but don’t do it in a way that you’re endangering people’s lives or property,” DeSpain said. “Be aware of what the laws are and don’t break them.”
A neighborhood meeting will be held Wednesday to address MPD expectations for the block party at the Madison Senior Center on Mifflin Street at 7 p.m.
