The City of Madison Police Department articulated strategic plans for this year's Halloween festivities in order to control crowding, crack down on illegal and aggressive behavior and signal the end of festivities during a meeting Tuesday.

The city's Halloween committee, which includes members from local police departments, the Associated Students of Madison, city government and the University of Wisconsin administration, is dealing with the potential for a fourth year of disturbance on State Street.

Following three years of street disturbances that ended with the use of pepper spray, riotous behavior concerns committee members.

"Each year, we've learned a lot," Mario Mendoza, the city's business and legislative liaison, said. "We will take what we've learned in previous years and implement them this year."

Capt. Mary Schauf, MPD, addressed classic problems from previous years, most importantly dealing with large crowds on the blocks of State Street.

"Our goal is to try to keep people moving down State Street," Schauf said. "If we are successful at reducing the crowds, the problem areas in the past won't be a problem this time."

The area of concern, according to Schauf, has typically been the 400, 500 and 600 blocks of State Street. The police departments intend to stretch their forces and use State Patrol to help crowd control on these blocks.

"This year, we will utilize the State Patrol Special Events Team on State Street," she said. "This will free up city police, including mounted patrol, to focus on traffic control."

Police Chief Noble Wray, MPD, agreed decreasing the mass of crowds should free officers to more effectively enforce the law.

"We feel that putting in place a managed-density plan allows officers to access other plans a lot sooner," Wray said.

To aid in crowd control on the 500 block of State Street, the city is looking to use some form of fencing that would help police manage the number of patrons on the block. Finalized fencing plans will be ready by Oct. 1, Schauf added.

In order to help with crowd control, committee member Hawk Schenkel, owner of Hawk's Bar and Grill on State Street, said setting an end-time for the event and keeping the partiers informed of how much time is left could potentially lead to a peaceful State Street exodus.

ASM Chair Eric Varney agreed an end time might be a way to solve crowd control issues.

"Students seem to look for the end of the event to be signaled by a riot," Varney said.

The city has already requested State Street alcohol establishments close on time Saturday night, as opposed to taking advantage of daylight savings time's change of the clocks and remaining open for business an additional hour.

Some committee members say this request is crucial because if businesses do not agree, daylight savings on Halloween weekend will allow partiers an extra hour of drinking time at the bars, which may influence patrons into uncontrollable behavior.

According to Joel Plant, the city's alcohol policy coordinator, if the city does decide to implement this plan, there must be extra time allotted for patrons to be removed from the street before the party can be officially ended, as a means of alleviating potential unrest.

"I think an extra hour would be a minimum in order to alleviate pressure [on State Street]," Plant said. "An earlier leaving time may give partiers a reason to rebel."

The police department also plans to use a quality sound system to provide notices and instructions to people on State Street, such as a designed end-time.

"We've contacted a commercial provider for audio," Schauf said. "Hopefully through better communication, the crowd will be better notified of when the event is over and it's time for them to go home."

The committee also discussed expanding the glass-free zone beyond the State Street area, tightening the ban on open intoxicants and continuing to crack down on reveler hostility, which police have done in past years.

"Our officers will take a strong stance on aggressive behavior," Schauf said.