ALCOHOL LIMITS SET FOR FESTIVAL

Cinco de Mayo officials set up security

With San Jose's annual Cinco de Mayo festival only two weeks away, police
on Monday outlined a plan of stepped-up patrols and tougher restrictions on
alcohol sales that they hope will avert last year's melee that caused more
than $53,000 in damage to downtown businesses.

Built on a successful strategy that was used in September for Mexican
Independence Day, the plan calls for 400 police officers to control crowds
and move festivalgoers in and out of the city center.

``Can I guarantee there won't be any problems?'' said Police Capt. Pat
Dwyer. ``No. But I can honestly tell you that I think we are as prepared as
we can be.''

Last year's Cinco de Mayo festival drew as many as 400,000 people to a
six-block area downtown. After the festival ended, an estimated 2,000
people lingered on downtown streets and began fighting and vandalizing
property.

Dwyer said police have met weekly to ``tear apart, criticize, improve and
tweak'' the plan used in September for Mexican Independence Day.

Some key points call for:

Substituting a canopied family rest area for a former beer garden enclosure
to moderate drinking.

Limiting the number of beer booths within the festival zone to 8.

Doing away with one of the major entertainment stages to reduce crowd density.

Police Lt. Jack Farmer, head of the department's special investigations
unit, said the ``vast majority'' of the 60 or so merchants voluntarily will
close shop that day or hold off on the sale of alcohol until 8 p.m. --
three hours after the festival ends.