Nearly 200 people cited or arrested during Welcome Weekend
Officer Jeff Browne of the Mount Pleasant Police Department said the majority of people he cited during Welcome Weekend weren't from Central Michigan University.
"A lot of people I was dealing with were not students," he said. "They were either visiting students here or they came here just because they heard this was the place to be."
Last year, police responded to 568 calls, compared to 574 this year. A total of 192 people were cited or arrested this year. The most common citation given out was open intoxication, with 107. In 2014, 74 people were issued this citation.
Fifty-six people were cited or arrested for minor in possession, compared to 39 in 2014. Five were cited or arrested for disorderly conduct this year, and nine for hosting a nuisance party. Two people were cited for attending a nuisance party, which can involve alcoholic beverages that are illegally sold or provided to people in attendance, including underage people. The parties may have had excessive noise and traffic, excessive consumption of alcohol or overcrowding.
Police gave out seven citations or arrests for resisting and obstruction, two for possession of drugs and one for retail fraud.
Two people were arrested on warrants from other departments.
Browne said rumors were spreading on social media about a stabbing and a murder over the weekend. These rumors are untrue.
Police from Mount Pleasant, CMU, Midland, Clare, St. Louis and Gratiot County were on patrol during Welcome Weekend. Browne said police were on the lookout for people who came to Mount Pleasant specifically to harm the community.
"We cite students too, but if you bring people who are destructive to our community, you are responsible for this problem as well," he said. "Students need to recognize that they are a student-resident population. That means this area, our area, is their area. They should treat it with pride and respect."
