UPDATE: More than 400 Arrests at Mifflin Party

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UPDATED Monday, May 5 --- 12:05pm

There were 438 total arrests for the Mifflin Street party, 383 people were cited and released, 51 went to jail, and 4 went to the detox center.

Original Posted Saturday, May 3:
As of about 8:20 p.m. there were around 400 arrests reported. The block party is winding down and streets in the area are all open. No major incidents were reported during the event. Final arrest numbers/charges will be available in the next couple of weeks.

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As of 6:00 p.m. there have been around 380 arrests. A couple of parties have been shut down, or are in the process of being shut down. As has been the case for most of the afternoon, the lion's share of arrests are for alcohol related offenses.

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As of 5:00 p.m. The crowd is reported to be mostly good-natured. There have been around 270 arrests, mostly for alcohol related issues. Several people have been taken to detox.

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As of 3:00p.m. Madison Police estimated a crowd of under 10,000 was in the general Mifflin Street area for the annual block party. Around 60 people have been processed at the arrest center, almost all for alcohol related violations. Another 54 people are yet to be processed. There have been no major fights or serious issues thus far.

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Posted by: Anonymous on May 5, 2008 at 06:32 PM
Posted by: anon Location: madison on May 5, 2008 at 11:20 AM. Look at a state fine for instance. The fine itself for speeding in many cases is only $30.00 (even though the top of the ticket says 186.00). You pay the $30 which goes into some fund for state L.E. The other $150 goes to the jail, the court, the state computer systems, the county computer systems, social services, criminal justic education fees, and a host of other places. Law enforcement in reality probably looses money by writing tickets. I.E. cost of printing, paying the officer, paying for the car, the pens, the equipment, etc. I can guarantee you, even if 120,000 in tickets was written the police department itself will see maybe 1/4 of that money, and from that they will have to OT for officers/civilian employees, metro bus rental, flex cuffs and other 'mass arrest' associated items, and a host of other fees, as I said below, that no one ever thinks about. Its not a money scam.

Posted by: Pam on May 5, 2008 at 01:13 PM
I agree with Mark-Wi has the highest alcohol abuse rate and here we are having a huge street party with lots of policeman to watch over. Why not spend so much money on hiring extra officers to help keep people safe and maybe solve a few murders. WI doesnt seem to help are reputation any by hosting these events. Its pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Posted by: anon Location: madison on May 5, 2008 at 11:20 AM
ok, so $300 per fine at 400 arrests, that's $120,000. The city really spends over $120,000 cleaning up/hiring officers/courts/paperwork due to 1 weekend?! That's insane. I would love to see a real financial accounting of this event published by the city. As a taxpayer, this isn't how I want government resources to be handled, why not just shut the whole thing down, or double fines for the weekend so the city CAN recoup its losses?

Posted by: Anonymous on May 5, 2008 at 08:13 AM
Umm, its nowhere near a profit for the City. Not to mention the other agencies who work the event (UW-Madison Police and DCSO). Neither of those agencies make any money out of the event and have to pay their officers. Not to mention the extra streets people to clean up, the extra paramedics/firefighters, and all of the other "little" things no one ever thinks about during a mass event such as this. Each fine is roughly $300 and the City still doesn't make out. (Courts take lots of money to run as well).

Posted by: d Location: waunakee on May 5, 2008 at 07:27 AM
is anyone surprised at the number of arrests? i'm not.

Posted by: C Location: Madison on May 5, 2008 at 07:25 AM
Let me assure the previous poster that anything, ANYTHING governmentally related does not turn a profit. Profits are for corporate slobs. NOW kickbacks and no bid contracts are fairly popular in government and are fairly profitable for politicians and other government leadership types.

Posted by: anon Location: madison on May 4, 2008 at 11:46 PM
well, if each fine is roughly $180, and there were 400 arrests, that's $72,000. subtracting hours paid for the extra police protection... sounds like the city is making a profit on this event?

Posted by: Fun Police Location: Madison on May 4, 2008 at 07:20 PM
It was alot of fun, this is why Madison is amazing! I'd fly across the globe to make it to Mifflin!

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 4, 2008 at 03:31 PM
I personally dont see how they can this a NO MAJOR PROBLEMS event when 400 arrests were made, I think the thing should be just shut down to save the taxpayers $ instead of draining them even more for something that isnt necessary

Posted by: Suzanne Location: LeBisque on May 4, 2008 at 01:01 PM
Just like every other year, the block party was fun, lively and everyone had a great time. But I still think Ellen Page was robbed at the Academy Awards. Robbed, I tell you!

Posted by: Mark Location: Pardeeville on May 4, 2008 at 03:35 AM
Makes me wonder how many career alcoholics start at this block party. Does Wisconsin not already have the highest alcohol abuse ratio in the US? Why does Madison support this kind of thing?

Posted by: D Location: Madison on May 3, 2008 at 07:58 PM
They should just shut this thing down period instead of wasting taxpayers dollars to fund the extra pd

Posted by: anon Location: madison on May 3, 2008 at 06:36 PM
"over 200 arrests and no major problems." ha. only in madison are 200 arrests in one afternoon on one street not considered a problem.

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Saturday Science Workshop
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The Ivory Room Piano Bar- Live Entertainment
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AAU Taekwondo National Championships
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Johnson Creek Premium Outlets
575 W. Linmar Lane
Johnson Creek, WI
920-699-4111

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Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:00 AM -
Saturday, August 30, 2008 5:00 PM
Downtown Madison
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Five Painters in the Gardens
Sunday, June 8, 2008 -
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Madison, WI
608-246-4550
http://www.olbrich.org

Nature Passport
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Nature Net sites
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