10
NEWS
SEPT. 8, 2016 |
CENTRAL MICHIGAN LIFE | CM-LIFE.COM
Welcome Weekend nuisance party citations increase 400 percent By Jordyn Hermani News Editor news@cm-life.com
By the morning of Aug. 28, the Mount Pleasant Police Department received 653 calls. That’s almost 100 calls more than last year. Student Government Association President Ian Elliott wants to know why. “The police went around and made it very clear they were going to be strict this (Welcome) Weekend. You really just have to ask why,” Elliott said. “I have to question why (police) dug in even harder on students, because it’s damaging student-police relationships. It’s not going to damage, it is damaging. It’s happening right now.” Last month, from Aug. 25 to Aug. 28, 653 phone calls were made to law enforcement and 344 citations were issued, according to a press release issued by the Mount Pleasant Police Department. This resulted in a 79.1 percent ticketing increase from Welcome Weekend 2015. While many students expressed annoyance with the amount of citations during 2016’s mostly peaceful Welcome Weekend, Mount Pleasant Police Officer Jeff Browne said there were no more officers
out during Welcome Weekend than in previous years. Mount Pleasant City Manager Nancy Ridley said Welcome Weekend policing comes in “peaks and valleys,” in relation to student action. She defines right now as “coming down from a peak” and said students this Welcome Weekend were more respectful of adhering to the law, although citations rose. Between 2015 and 2016, all counts of ticketing were increased except in the cases of resisting and obstructing justice, which decreased from seven citations issued in 2015 to three this year. Ambulance runs, however, more than doubled from five to 17 between this year and last and three sexual contact complaints were lodged this year. None were reported last year. Browne said one possible explanation for the increase in citations was related to a lack of needing to constantly sweep the streets. In years past, Browne and other officers have had to form lines and march down city blocks to clear people crowding roads impeding traffic. This year, he said that technique was only needed once. “The year before, we did several times where the streets were so congested with people in the roadway, you couldn’t get vehicular traffic through,” he said. “That can really make a difference. I think the lighting
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WELCOME WEEKEND BY THE NUMBERS
also definitely helped in the area, which seemed to spread things out.” Hosting a nuisance party saw the biggest increase in citations Comparing Welcome Weekend 2015 to 2016, the number of overall from 2015 to 2016, the citations rose from 192 to 344, increasing by 79.1 percent. number growing from 9 to 45. Under Ordinance 995, Section 96.04: Nuisance Gathering, a nuisance party is defined Open intoxication citations have risen dramatically from Welcome as meeting “one or more” Weekend 2014 to 2016. Then, 74 citations were given out, compared to of the 12 standards set by the 107 in 2015 and the 155 citations given in 2016. the city including underage drinking, public urination or defecation and “generation of noise or violations that are audible at a distance During 2015’s Welcome Weekend, 568 calls were made to police. In beyond 50 feet from 2016, that number rose to 653 calls — overall calls increasing by the property line of the 14.96 percent. premises.” This updated ordinance has been effective since July 2015, clarifying Ordinance 96.04 so that ing out citations, and then double checks these names the city could have a standard on policing marijuana against the Central Michigan University registrar’s list. at nuisance parties and gatherings. Last year, Browne said, the percentage was “predomiBrowne said officers typically look and listen for nantly out-of-towners.” While an exact number was either loud music, an abundance of trash or people not known for this Welcome Weekend, Browne was cluttering lawns and sidewalks. Whether or not ofconfident student citations was a significantly less ficers break up a nuisance party comes down to officer number than visitor citations. Elliott, however, said more needs to be done. discretion. Appealing to the City Commission, Elliott said SGA Due to the number of press releases, emails and plans to document a number of complaints they educational training done by the Mount Pleasant received throughout Welcome Weekend and present Police Department, Browne said he believes there is no reason why the nuisance party violations should be them to members of the commission. He hopes the number of student voices compiled in this report will as high as they are. spur talks on how to work with the city to lower the From sending emails to student accounts warning amount of citations written. of the dangers of the weekend, to hosting a panel “As city commission liaison last year, I had ongoduring orientation to teach freshmen about Welcome Weekend, Browne said he doesn’t know what more ing conversations with the City Commission. We’ve the department can do. been having this exact same conversation for a year, “We are enforcing the laws and the ordinances and that’s where a part of my disappointment comes we’ve always had. Now we’re holding people to that from because I thought we were at a balance point,” standard,” he said. “At some point, there has to be a Elliott said. “At some point, the city decided to become time when you start holding people accountable and I stricter and that’s where I’m bewildered.” think that’s where we’re stepping into. You hear people Some city officials, however, feel the opposite. say ‘Well I didn’t know,’ but how do you not know? “I hope (the community and students) are There’s a letter that comes out from CMU and the city, proud of what they’ve done and their commitsocial media, the College Life and the Law (orientation ment to maintaining the community standard,” course), the walk around in the neighborhoods — we said Glenn Feldhauser, director of the division of do these proactive things, how do you not know?” public safety. “Everyone should be congratulated Browne said the number of student-received for their behavior. I thought it was outstanding. It citations was lower than the amount of out of town wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, but we’re headed in citations but he didn’t know definitively. the right direction.” The police department double checks this by comThe next City Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at Community Hall. piling a list of all the names they take down while giv-
79.1%
109.5%
15%