More than 150 police officers and drones to monitor 55th annual Mifflin Street Block Party (2024)

For each of the past 55 years, the 400 and 500 blocks of West Mifflin Street have undergone a one-day transformation. The usually quiet stretch of vintage student rentals becomes a seething mass of humanity, a jungle that officials have tried to weed and tame, often with little success. The will of a 19-year-old business major to get plastered continues to triumph over the best-laid plans of mayors and council members.

Sisyphean as the task may seem, Madison’s first responders will once again be out in force Saturday for the Mifflin Street Block Party.

More than 150 police officers will comprise five “strike teams” mingling with the crowd, 89 of whom come from the Madison Police Department’s special events team and, as such, are specifically trained in crowd management, according to South District Capt. Mike Hanson.

Police also will have eyes in the sky, with multiple drones slated to take off throughout the day to watch for fights, vandalism and overcrowding in harder-to-monitor areas like backyards and parking areas.

“For 55 years we’ve been planning this,” Hanson said. “By and large, this event starts out very jovial. ... Our concern is as the day goes on is obviously the alcohol consumption.”

In addition to law enforcement, 12 firefighters will be putting in overtime hours to patrol the party’s perimeter, according to police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer.

Building inspectors, too, will be out and about, keeping an eye on the aging balconies and rooftops of the student houses to ensure that the structures hold up, something the city has more closely examined since the collapse of a balcony during the 2022 Mifflin festivities injured several students.

Building inspections in the party blocks began in February and led to a total of 24 notices being handed out to building owners for things such as loose lattice and unsteady porches, Madison Building Inspection Director Matt Tucker said.

A handful of those notices remain unsatisfied, and those compromised structures will be roped off and restricted accordingly, Tucker said. Land parcels in the area accounted for an additional 17 notices for problems such as debris, furniture and other potential fire hazards. Only a couple of those remain uncorrected, Tucker said.

Spilled booze may not be the only liquid dampening the pavement Saturday: The National Weather Service is predicting thunderstorms throughout the day, throwing a wrench in not only the planned festivities but also the police response. Drones, for instance, cannot fly in the rain.

“If it looks like an all-day drencher, we can scale back some of our resources,” Hanson said. “We’ve got some people that don’t want to get rained on and some people that are praying for a monsoon.”

Always characterized by crowds and excess, the event in recent years has resulted mostly in tickets for things like underage drinking or public urination. But some years have been far worse: two stabbings and three sexual assaults in 2011; partiers smashing windshields and stomping on cars in 2021.

Last year’s toll included three arrests, 44 alcohol citations and the recovery of a stolen gun in a partygoer’s backpack.

The South Side captain, who’s set to retire in June, still has aspirations for the young leaders drinking out of funnels and wine bags at the party: If Madison can’t stop the party, perhaps the party can evolve into something more positive and less intoxicating. Hanson envisions a day of service in future Mifflin years, charitable work taking the place of beer pong.

“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this event,” he said.