The Madison Police Department emphasized Tuesday night that it is not looking to arrest people at this Saturday's Mifflin Street Block Party.
Around 70 downtown student residents attended the planning meeting at the Madison Senior Center. The city has held the meeting every year since 1996, when the block party turned into a bonfire and riot that threatened to burn down houses.
The city introduced one new regulation this year. Parking will not be allowed on the 400 and 500 blocks of Mifflin Street all day Saturday. Towing of remaining vehicles will start at 10:00 a.m. While traffic will be allowed on the street initially, it may be closed off later to protect drivers and partiers.
Capt. Luis Yudice of the MPD said the police's responsibility is to keep people safe, not to spoil parties and cause unneeded arrests. He stressed that they would be on the lookout for bad behavior and would try not to create a \police state"" atmosphere.
""We do not want to have any unwarranted contact with you,"" he said. ""We're not out looking for arrests. It's going to be your behavior that draws us to your house party.""
Yudice added that police would be on the lookout for behavior such as throwing objects and exposing oneself. He said in the Halloween celebration on State Street last year, women exposing themselves partially caused the riot.
According to Capt. John Davenport, while police do not expect this year to turn into a riot, the combination of alcohol and the expected crowd of 20,000 could lead to serious problems.
""Ninety-nine percent of people are there for a good time,"" he said. ""But when you have that many people there, you only need a few people to change things.""
Police said they did not know exactly how many officers they would have on the street, but they expect the number to increase as night falls. Last year 70 officers patrolled the street.
""We expect that the majority of people will behave responsibly and have fun,"" Yudice said.
The police, as well as Fire Chief Carl Saxe and Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, provided safety tips to the students. Aside from the general prohibitions on bonfires, drinking on public property and loud music after 8 p.m., students were warned to watch out for strangers at their parties and overloaded porches.
Davenport added that for their own safety, party hosts should secure their valuables and not leave house keys sitting around.
Afterward, Davenport said the meeting was a good opportunity to create dialogue between residents and police.
