Madison police released a letter to Mifflin residents Thursday which includes a stipulation that police are canceling the Mifflin Street block party, after announcing policies it will implement for the May 4 event at a recent meeting.
In the letter, Madison Police Department Chief of Police Noble Wray said “there will be NO Mifflin Street Block Party in 2013 or beyond.”
Despite the strong language used in the letter, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the growing concerns among students and community members that police officially shut down the block party for the first time since its inception are somewhat misguided. He said the language used in the letter does not differ greatly from recent years, including 2012, when the Madison Police Department repeatedly referred to the historic block party as a “non-event.”
This year, following the precedent the city set by refusing to block off Mifflin Street to traffic last year, the city will again allow regular traffic and street parking May 4.
Verveer said the biggest difference in this year’s policies is the discontinuation of the “party contracts” police established with residents last year.
According to Verveer, party contracts were designed as an “amnesty program” in which police officers agreed to “look the other way” if residents cooperated with MPD in ejecting trespassers from their properties. This year, in an attempt to reject acknowledging the block party in any way, police will enforce a “no-tolerance” policy for illegal house parties.
However, Verveer said police do not intend to break up house parties on May 4 if the party abides by the city’s Alcohol License Density Ordinance. He said despite rumors spreading through the student body, the stipulation in the letter canceling Mifflin “doesn’t mean marshall law was declared and residents can’t enjoy their property.”
Under ALDO, fines and citations will be given to persons hosting a party that police deem a “nuisance,” drinking underage, procuring alcohol for someone younger than 21, and drinking on private property without permission.
Wray denounced the block party in the letter to the city and said MPD “is strongly recommending” Mifflin residents reconsider hosting house parties May 4.
“The toll of the spring student party far outweighs any benefit to our community,” Wray said. “The nuisance house parties on Mifflin Street, with the rampant over-consumption of alcohol and the attendant safety issues will no longer be tolerated by the City of Madison.”
The City of Madison also endorsed the Revelry Arts and Music Festival as the “only sanctioned event” May 4. Madison Police officer Matthew Magolan said in an email the police department echoes the city’s consideration of Revelry as an alternative to Mifflin.
“The sooner these illegal house parties are brought under control and the UW Revelry Music and Arts Festival replaces the spring student party with a safe alternative, the safer we can make our community as a whole,” Magolan said in an email statement.
Verveer said although the MPD is using stronger language and enforcing a slightly more stiff policing this year, the department’s attitude toward Mifflin has remained consistently unsupportive over the past few years. Despite this, students have continued to host and attend the block party.
“The reality is it’s a tradition going back to 1969; it’s not going to end over night,” he said.
