Madison's Halloween Planning Committee met yesterday to review the consequences of Halloween weekend and to contemplate next year while the Madison Police Department released dollar values of expenses incurred during the weekend.
Members of the committee, including the Madison Police Department and Associated Students of Madison, examined the successes and failures of Halloween weekend, for which they had taken measures to prevent riots.
While reviewing police footage, Assistant Chief of Police Luis Yudice noted some people in the crowd punched and threw objects at mounted police, instead of moving to avoid them as expected. Many also confronted police in riot gear and seemed unaffected by pepper spray.
Yudice also mentioned that fewer UW students were arrested this year.
\I'd like to think that this is because of our message, but students are pretty bright and didn't admit that they were university students,"" he said.
Mario Mendoza, aide to the mayor, acknowledged the limited success this year, yet still suggested taking serious action to curtail Halloween celebrations.
""This is a tragedy waiting to happen,"" Mendoza said. ""We are past the point of managing this event, to the point of discouraging it.""
Shutting down the State Street celebration would entail using tactics such as curfews, martial law and shutting down bars, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.
""I'm concerned that if we somehow said 'the party's over,' it would only encourage troublemakers to act out more,"" Verveer said. ""I don't believe this community is interested in strategies that will conflict with civil liberties.""
The Greater State Street Business Association met two days after Halloween and expressed their support for the celebration, as that weekend is the top revenue-generator for the year, Verveer added.
Nevertheless, the Madison Police Department also disclosed Wednesday the cost of Halloween weekend's police enforcement. According to its reports, the Madison Police Department itself ran $255,535.81 in expenses. With the additional expenses of other police departments, such as the UW Police, factored in, the figure rose to $469,347.19. Expenses of the Capitol Police and State Patrol have yet to be added to this total, however.
According to Mendoza, the committee intends to meet again before spring to begin planning for next year.
""We're all a little shaken up, no matter what side of the pepper spray you were on,"" he said.
