City officials are pushing for a revamp of the Mifflin Street Block Party, including possible sponsorship of the event, after hitting a record number of arrests at the 40th annual event Saturday.
With over 400 arrests made by the Madison Police Department, the 2008 event surpassed previous Mifflin parties, as well as Freakfest 2007, arrest numbers, according to police reports. MPD public information officer Joel DeSpain said the majority of arrests were alcohol-related offenses such as open container and underage drinking.
A police presence of 120 officers supervised an estimated crowd of fewer than 10,000 people throughout the day until the party dwindled down and streets opened up around 8 p.m. Police relocated resources to the State Street area to monitor the shifting partygoers as the night continued.
“Overall the crowd has been a somewhat intoxicated many people, but they’ve been for the most part behaved,” DeSpain said.
The paradox of a relatively tame crowd and a high number of arrests is a problem that has city officials eager to make changes in the event.
Until recently, officials remained opposed to any formal recognition of the Mifflin and sought to end the event, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. With the success the commercial sponsorship of Freakfest over the past two years, however, officials now see potential for a similar revitalization at Mifflin.
“I think that there is a renewed, very strong interest by city officials to try and hopefully proactively seek out a sponsor, an organizer for this annual event,” Verveer said.
Rather than gating off the street and making partygoers pay an admission fee like at Freakfest, Verveer said the goal of having a sponsor at Mifflin would be to bring more structure to the event. He said obtaining a street permit would allow for main music stages to be set up in the street and shift the focus to music rather than just drinking.
“I would prefer it be student based,” Verveer said of the sponsorship, suggesting a student organization take on the role. “This party has always been about students, it should be about students.”
