As crime moves more and more to the front of the consciousness of Madison residents, so have questions over what to do about it.
One way the MPD and other city officials want to prevent crime is by reducing the number of downtown liquor licenses, essentially limiting the number of bars and liquor stores in the central district.
The push for fewer alcohol outlets in the city is galvanizing proponents and opponents alike to share opinions on the controversial alcohol density plan.
MPD Lt. Joe Balles said a correlation between the amount of bars and violent crime is one of the reasons for the plan.
During the summer, police statistical analyst Nicole DeMotto said the number of alcohol licenses has dramatically increased over the last ten years. She said 57 licenses existed in 1997 compared to 128 in 2006.
Still, Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, said he does not support the plan because he said it would cause more harm than good. He said it would force students out of bars and into house parties, which are statistically more dangerous.""
""People are still going to drink, and they're going to drink elsewhere,"" Judge said.
Currently, the problem area for police exists in a relatively small area encompassing State Street, University Avenue and Lake Street. In that area, several bars are enclosed together and at bar time, thousands of people spill onto the street.
Balles said the amount of drunken patrons on the street at once put huge strains on the force, but does not place the blame on UW-Madison students.
""Everybody thinks it's a student problem downtown, but I am convinced it isn't,"" Balles said.
To help combat this problem, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz set up the one-time-only $100,000 Downtown Safety Initiative in January. The initiative was meant to provide extra resources for the MPD. Still, with that money at their disposal, police continue to ""get by"" with fighting crime because the money allows for only so much.
New officers, officers receiving overtime and surveillance cameras downtown are the big additions to police force as a result of the initiative.
Thus, the density plan would be meant to relieve some of the pressures police encounter at bar time downtown and essentially be an addition to the initiative. The plan will be discussed in late September by the City Council.
Still, the MPD is not going to wait until that time to assert that it means business to partygoers downtown with Welcome Week gracing the campus.
""This Thursday, Friday and Saturday '¦ you will see tons of officers,"" Balles said.
