At the Downtown Coordinating Committee meeting Thursday, Police Lt. Mary Shauf spoke to committee members regarding police action on Halloween weekend.
Shauf characterized Friday night of Halloween weekend as fairly trouble-free, the only problems being the torrential rain that pelted the city around midnight and a small confrontation with revelers occurring around 3 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 30, was far more eventful, when at approximately 2 a.m. police used a combination of mounted police, riot gear-clad officers and pepper spray to dispel a rioting crowd of 80,000.
\It's clear to us that some people did come looking for a confrontation with police,"" Shauf said.
Nevertheless, Shauf characterized this year's Halloween crowd-control plan overall as a success, noting a ""significant decrease in property damage,"" no citizen injuries and only slight injuries to police officers.
""We had one officer who had a brick hit their hand but they had a bruise but that was all,"" she said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 8, praised the work of Madison's Mall Maintenance crew for thoroughly cleaning up after an event that generated horse manure, bonfire remains and an abundance of broken glass.
""If you were there at 6 a.m., you would have no idea there were 80,000 people there the night before,"" he said.
The committee also recognized the police's role during Halloween.
""From what I know, I think it's incredible what the police department did,"" said committee member Ted Crabb.
""We were pleased with the way the police plan worked,"" said Shauf. ""I think we'd be remiss to say it was perfect.\
