It's 9:30 p.m. and a dozen Madison Police officers crowd a narrow apartment hallway, guns drawn.
'Andrew, all we want you to do is come out so we can talk to you,' one officer said.
Behind the locked door in front of them sits Andrew, a paranoid schizophrenic in his mid-20s. For the last hour, Andrew has been screaming, breaking things and threatening to burn the apartment building down with a lighter and a can of WD-40.
By now, the fire department has arrived to support the police and paramedics are already on the scene. Andrew tied his door shut with a bike lock and police are unsure if he is armed. The plan is to break in through the back window of the apartment and subdue him with a blast from a shotgun rigged to shoot small beanbags.
Police complete the operation minutes later and place Andrew in handcuffs. One officer has cuts on his arm from broken glass.
Officer Kelly Hoeft, one of the first to arrive on the scene, said she was pleased with the final outcome.
'Sometimes in a situation like that, you can wait it out,' Hoeft said. 'We had the front covered in case he came out that way, but they ended up going in through the window. He had the propellant, he had a lighter and he had tied the door shut. It sucks that an officer got hurt, but it went well otherwise,' Hoeft said.
Soon after the officers arrived on the scene, small signs of anger and distrust emanated from some of the other residents of the building.
'They should just get a mediator,' one neighbor said.
Another woman said the police should simply leave Andrew alone.
The incident highlights more than just police tactics; it illustrates the ubiquitous and uncertain rift that can exist between authorities and the public. With Halloween weekend only four days away, discussion over enforcement tactics will continue and the relationship police share with students will become pronounced.
Hoeft has been a Madison police officer for five and a half years. She is aware of the negative perception some students have of police but maintains that the majority of contact she has with students is positive.
'There are so many times that I run in to college students and they are just fine,' Hoeft said.
When the only contact some students have with police involves being punished, it can be difficult for a relationship of trust to grow. Hoeft maintains that police officers do not intentionally target students, nor go out of their way to hassle them.
'The large majority of these students are underage and drinking. We don't seek them out, because so many of them seek us out through their actions,' Hoeft said.
