A Great Migration: Students, visitors keep police busy during Welcome Weekend


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Kaiti Chritz | Photo Editor

This weekend, a migration was upon Mount Pleasant. 

As a quiet summer came to a close, students and visitors traveled from near and far for Central Michigan University's annual Welcome Weekend. 

Welcome Weekend marks the start of a new school year, and Lt. Larry Klaus of the CMU Police Department knows students are excited to be back. On a typical Welcome Weekend night, Klaus patrols campus and student-neighborhoods in the city, keeping an eye out for celebrations that may get out of hand. 

On Friday, Aug. 28, parties began around 10 p.m., pulling Klaus in different directions throughout the night. An officer with 30 years of experience, Klaus said Welcome Weekend is an last-chance end to a generally dull summer. 

When Klaus pulled out of the CMUPD station, Police Chief Bill Yeagley said there wasn't much happening yet. Klaus knew this was the calm before the storm.

"At 10 or 11 p.m., we usually see this big north migration of students," Klaus said. 

On patrol with Klaus were officers from Mount Pleasant, Midland, Clare, St. Louis and Gratiot County. Driving through campus is almost eerily quiet. When Klaus travels further north there are masses of students, laughing and chatting, seemingly anxious to cross Bellows Street, off school property and into Welcome Weekend madness

The migration is underway. 

Before making his way north, Klaus makes one last drive through campus. He passes an event near The Towers residence halls called "Main Street Central." Put on by Residence Life, Student Activities and Involvement and University Recreation, it featured many activities, food and music. Klaus recognized the work the university did to put on events for those who may not be interested in drinking. 

While walking around the event, Klaus stops to chat with Michelle Veith, the associate director of residence life. The two agree the night seemed more calm than last year. Central Michigan Life spent the night on patrol with Klaus, documenting calls, crying drunken partygoers and a surprising amount of blood. 

10:03 p.m.: Seeing the carnival is well-attended and pretty calm, Klaus ventures north again, stopping in Lot 3 outside of Grawn Hall. 

"When this fills up, you can tell a lot of people from out of town are here," Klaus said.

On Thursday night, this parking lot was nearly empty. On Friday, the lot was full. Klaus said Lot 3 gives him a "birds-eye view" to the activity just north of campus. Klaus scans the streets, concerned about the change to two-way traffic on Main and Washington.

"Hopefully students will keep the two-way streets in mind," he said. "I don't want them stepping out in front of cars." 

10:06 p.m.: Klaus takes his first drive down Main Street. Students line sidewalks on both sides, and Klaus inches his car slowly because a couple students have already ran out in front of it. A group of officers interrogates a group of students at a house on Washington. Since it's not very busy, Klaus drives back to campus to find there are large groups of people heading north. Klaus knows there will be more chaos soon. 

10:22 p.m.: A group of students waves Klaus down from the traintracks by The Towers' parking lot. The group is hovering over something. When they move back, Klaus sees a man laying on the ground with blood staining most of his shirt, hands and face. A woman is crying--the students are intoxicated. Klaus walks onto the tracks as Yeagley pulls up to assist him. An ambulance is called after Klaus observes that the man has a large gouge on the side of his head from a fall on the train tracks. 

As the student tries to sit up, Klaus tries to calm him.

"You're going to be alright, buddy," he said. "You got a knock on your head, but we're going to get you to a hospital." 

Residence hall staff arrives to wrap layers of gauze around the man's head. They ask him simple questions, but the man is having trouble answering. When asked what day it is, he says, "Tuesday." 

10:41 p.m.: The stretcher arrives, and Klaus assists with carrying the bleeding student to the waiting ambulance. 

10:56 p.m.: Though he was driving fairly slowly, Klaus speeds up suddenly toward Bellows Street. Dispatchers alert Klaus via radio to nearby incidents. He pulls up to the entrance of Northwest Apartments, where two men are sitting on the curb. One of the men has a small pool of blood around his feet. Officers surround them--Klaus is there for backup. 

11:03 p.m.: Klaus gets an update from his fellow officers, finding out the two men were in a fight. The bleeding man, an 18-year-old from Lake Orion, explains to police that he was trying to get the other man away from a woman he was "creeping on." Police cuff the other man and put him in the police car. He has no visible injuries, and is arrested on assault charges. 

Officers begin questioning the 18-year-old about the contents of his backpack. He tells them there is only a sweatshirt inside. The officers keep questioning him, and the blood-stained kid finally admits there are two beers in the bag, which police confiscate. 

The officers convene and then give the student a citation for minor in possession of alcohol. The man becomes upset. Tears mix with the blood running down his face.

"You can't give me a ticket, I just got sucker-punched," he says. 

Later, Klaus says both men received MIPs because it's "problematic to have them drinking." 

"Of course I feel for these kids. But they've got to understand that alcohol causes people to make bad decisions," he said. 

11:24 p.m.: Klaus quickly returns to the station to wash blood from his hands. He speeds through campus because multiple officers on his radio are getting to get ready for "The Push." He explains this as a tactic of breaking up congestion on Main Street so emergency vehicles could get through if they needed to. Police walk south down neighborhoods north of campus, encouraging students to move off the sidewalks and onto the lawns. 

11:31 p.m.: When he reaches Main Street, Klaus passes a patrol car blocking the end of it. He decides to assist in blocking traffic, so students who are being moved down the sidewalks can cross streets safely. 

Klaus notes how busy it is, but says last year there was much more activity. Now the migration is moving the opposite direction. 

"They shut down Main Street," one student says. "They walked from one end to the other and got everyone out." 

Klaus said police do this maneuver two or three times a night if cars can't drive safely down the street. 

11:40 p.m.: Students filter south, stopping to congregate near Klaus' patrol car. They look nervous as they decide whether to go back north, entering Klaus' field of vision. One group of students stops to take selfies with his car. 

Klaus laughs.

"Like I said, alcohol really hinders your decision making," he said. "My dad used to call it 'liquid courage.'" 

11:49 p.m.: A residence hall director alerts Klaus to a suspected drug deal in Lot 3. He describes the person in question as a white man in a Red Wings hat. When foot traffic starts slowing, Klaus gets in his car and makes a lap around the lot, keeping his eyes peeled for the kid in the hat. 

With no luck in his search, Klaus heads to the front of the parking lot, back to his birds-eye view. 

As the night went on, activity continuously dulled. Students and visitors headed back to their beds and couches until a quiet Saturday morning, when they would prepare for the night's next migration. 

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About Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith is a super-senior at Central Michigan University. She comes from metro Detroit ...

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