In an attempt to alleviate arrests and citations issued by the 10 law enforcement agencies out on Welcome Weekend, CMU Police sent out an email Thursday warning students of behaviors that might get them in trouble with law enforcement.

Though Officer Jeff Browne of the Mount Pleasant Police Department said he believes not many students read the email, the department tries to connect with students through emails, educational presentations, social media and advertising.

Violations, however, were issued this weekend — and in abundance.

Mount Pleasant Police received 653 complaints this year, compared to 574 last year. There were 344 people cited or arrested, with the most common citations issued involving parties with open intoxicants — 155 citations and arrests.

Other common incidents were minor in possession with 70 citations or arrests and 45 for nuisance party-hosting. Twenty-five traffic citations were also issued, as well as 17 citations or arrests for disorderly conduct. There was one arrest for carrying a concealed weapon and three warrant arrests.

Thirteen of the 22 CMUPD officers were on patrol Saturday. CMUPD Lieutenant Larry Klaus believes this Welcome Weekend seemed less busy for CMUPD than last.

CMUPD reported 16 citations, 21 arrests and 16 ambulance calls for intoxication on campus during the weekend. Minor in possession was cited by CMUPD the most with 10 people receiving tickets. One of the arrests was for a person who attempted to flee from the police, and another was for a warrant from a different department.

Police presence was focused on the area between Bellows and Illinois street, where the majority of off-campus students live. Many students told Central Michigan Life they felt overwhelmed by the number of officers out during the weekend.

Chesterfield junior Zachary Gregarek said he felt police presence was greater than in the past. He said two different parties he attended were stopped by police long before he considered them “nuisance” parties.

“It was definitely heavier than I thought,” Gregarek said. “They were way strict this year.”

Junior Trevor Hulbert described police presence as “overbearing.” Hulbert said his housemates were instructed by police to fence off their front yard to avoid having too many people in the small area.

“Nothing could really happen on (Main) Street,” Hulbert said. “I guess they did their job, but a little too well.”

Browne was aware of student concerns. He said the city needed to make it clear that some of the behavior during Welcome Weekend was unacceptable. Browne added that police presence was no larger than last year.

“We never said it wasn’t going to be strict,” Browne said. “We expect individuals to follow community standards.”

Student Government Association President Ian Elliott said despite a large number of arrests, he felt students acted responsibly and were respectful of law enforcement and their presence in the community. Elliott did say, however, many students came to him concerned about “egregious police behavior” and over-ticketing.

“We had enough instances, enough feedback from students, however, that I am convinced (something is wrong),” Elliott said. “I’m not sure if they’re Mount Pleasant officers or from outside of the community but there were a few allegations that came forward to me (regarding police aggression) and (SGA) will do their due diligence to try and get all sides of the story.”

SGA will gather data and create a report to potentially bring before the city commission, Elliott said. His hope is to highlight overbearing and unclear ordinances so that both students and community members can understand what is expected of them during party weekends. He said he hopes the same can be done for highlighting why the city needed 14 different response teams to manage only a few city blocks.

Police were proactive in keeping the streets free, Klaus said, but also wanted to give students room to enjoy Welcome Weekend.

“We understand students want to have fun and meet people,” Klaus said. “We want them to have fun.”

The majority of people cited by police were not CMU students, but visitors from out of town, Browne said.

“[We] anticipate getting people from out of town because they hear this is the place to party,” he said.

Despite what students considered as heavy police presence, Browne said he did not like the ‘us vs. them’ outlook that comes between students and the city when the semester starts. He said police consider students a part of the community.

“It should be us together,” Browne said. “We invest a lot of time to make this a great community.”

Fourteen law enforcement and emergency service agencies were present in Mount Pleasant for Welcome Weekend including the MPPD, the Mount Pleasant Fire Department, CMUPD, Central Michigan University Dispatch, Michigan State Police, Isabella County Central Dispatch, the Department of Corrections, Mobile Medical Response, the Alma Police Department, Gratiot County Sheriff’s Department, Clare Police Department, St Louis Police Department, Midland Police Department and the Midland County Sheriff’s Department.