Every year at the Mifflin Street Block Party, residents' items are stolen and their property is damaged because they are not able to control who enters their house. Even if nothing is stolen or damaged, a rowdy crowd can attract police attention and result in a fine for house occupants for selling alcohol without a license. Many blame the wild atmosphere and occasional disorderly conduct on people who are not actually UW-Madison students.
\Out-of-towners could have a detrimental effect on the party because they don't have any stake in it,"" Madison Police Officer Kip Kellogg said. ""Whatever they did to ruin it for somebody else just becomes a great story for them to go home and tell.""
Kellogg, who was on duty for the 1996 Mifflin Street riots, said he did not arrest a single UW-Madison student last year or during the riots.
""If you go back and look at our citations that we've written and see who has addresses out of Madison, you can certainly see that there's a good portion that have been out of Madison,"" Public Information Officer Mike Hanson said.
It is unknown exactly how many of those arrested last year were UW-Madison students. This year, however, Madison police have decided to bring all those arrested to a processing center where they can collect and store such information.
Yet, based on past years, officials from the UW-Madison and Madison Police Departments said non-Madison residents pose more of a problem during Halloween than at the Mifflin Party.
""The mentality for Halloween is to come to riot,"" UW Police Lt. William Larsen said. ""It's much easier to do that when you don't have a vested interest in the community."".
Although Officer Kellogg recognizes that the Mifflin Street Block Party has undoubtedly outgrown its neighborhood party status, he also expects a smaller percentage of non-Madison residents than Halloween. He said many of those apprehended during Halloween were from Minnesota and Indiana.
But not all non-residents intentionally disrespect the community. UW-Stout junior Kevin Markert was arrested last year at Mifflin for bringing a beer into the street and for drinking underage.
""I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,"" Markert said.
Officer Hanson does not place the blame so much on out-of-towners coming to Mifflin Street, but on the excessive amounts of alcohol consumption.
The Madison Police Department is maintaining the strong alcohol enforcement stance that has been used in recent years, enforcing measures such as banning open intoxicants and glass on the street. Although keg registration laws have not been put into effect for the event, selling large volumes of alcohol still carries a risk.
""A house last year that was clearly selling beer for profit ended up with a ticket for $30,000. If there's a house that's clearly selling beer for profit with 50 half-barrels, that's not for 10 of your closest friends dropping by,"" Kellogg said. ""I'm sure that there will be a house or two this year that gets zinged.""
