Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Andrea Pendergast Women's Concert Chorale participated in the Homecoming parade that started on Grand and First Avenue and ended at Water Street and Second Avenue Saturday morning.

"You're coming on a very busy evening," officer Matt Stone said Friday as he led the way from the Eau Claire Police Department headquarters to his waiting squad car.

Two hours later, he was handing out underage drinking citations near Water Street during one of the department's busiest nights of the year - Homecoming.

It's an almost-perfect recipe for trouble. Mix in three parts alcohol, college students and festival-like atmosphere and blend for several hours. Then, for good measure, toss in a parade and football game.

However, Stone's late-evening beat Friday proved to be relatively light. The Water Street crowd was limited to a handful of small groups and Stone himself referred to the overall atmosphere in student-housing neighborhoods as "quite mellow." That was, of course, early in the evening - Stone said things would likely get busier after 11 p.m. - though he said he nevertheless was surprised by the relative calm.

Stone said he has seen improvements in Homecoming atmosphere in recent years and said the improvements are likely a result of the department's stepped-up presence during the weekend. On several occasions Friday, Stone stopped his car in sight of party-goers simply to let people know he was watching, but would not talk to or issue citations to students.

"When the police are around, people behave differently," he said, explaining the intent of the police department's tactic.

And apparently that presence is having an effect. Almost all students interviewed Saturday said they had noticed the beefed-up police surveillance on and around Water Street the night before.

"We were actually counting the cop cars (Friday) night for fun," freshman Emily Schell said Saturday evening, giving the same explanation other students gave - that police presence Friday on Water Street was much heavier than normal.

Students seemed to have mixed feelings about the police surveillance, saying they understood the need for more control but that the presence Friday night may have been overkill.

"I think it's good for them to have a crowd control kind of a thing," freshman Leah McHugh said, "but I don't think that many (officers) were needed."

Stone said he only approaches parties if he has a reason. After handing out a handful of drinking citations at a party Friday, for example, he explained he had been only been lured there by loud music.

And once he does approach partiers, he said he tries to be respectful and polite, explaining that mutual respect among students and officers is important.

"I don't want college students to think we're mean," he said, explaining he and other officers are simply doing their job.

He also said he hopes that by working to curb drinking problems among students he and other officers can help students avoid throwing away their futures - a reality he said he has seen play out all too often.

"Whether they like it or not," he said, "we're helping them."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools