Riot gear and resting officers will replace drunken revelers in the rooms of University Inn, 441 N. Frances St., this Halloween as the building will be the center of Madison Police Department's effort to prevent a third straight riot at the annual bash.
The downtown police headquarters is one of a host of changes discussed Monday at a meeting of the Halloween Task Force.
Several changes indicate a greater police presence downtown, including five to 15 officers mounted on horseback and officers given more discretion to make arrests. Additionally, the police department proposed raising fines for many ordinance violations in time for Halloween, although Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said many of the fines had not been raised in a decade.
For example, an open alcohol container fine will be raised from $102 to $288, public urination from $65 to $164 and disorderly conduct from $164 to $412, according to Verveer.
Verveer also said the police department thought it acted too slowly in addressing the buildup to last year's riot, so officers will have more liberties to make arrests this year, and arrested partygoers may be hauled away from State Street, processed and held until the celebration ends.
\Some of these ideas that the cops talked about [yesterday] may seem like a buzzkill to students, but I really think that none of these things should inhibit students from having an awesome time Halloween weekend,"" Verveer said.
Associated Students of Madison Chair Matt Rink said the best way to prevent more violence was to add additional entertainment to the celebration such as the concert held last year in Library Mall. No outdoor live music is scheduled for this Halloween.
""If you don't find people something to do, they are going to make something to do themselves whether it's throwing bottles or flashing the crowd,"" Rink said. ""It's a natural, psychological part of life that [the police] are not comprehending.""
Mayoral spokesperson Melanie Conklin said the mayor hoped Halloween would be a more local celebration and feared a concert would attract partiers from out of state.
