COPS HOPE KERRY CROWD IS PREVIEW

They'd Like Halloween Revelers to Be As Well Behaved for Police.

If State Street crowds this weekend behave as politely as the
armpit-to-chest throng did on West Washington Avenue on Thursday, Madison
police will be thrilled.

"Generally these types of events tend to draw people who are
issue-oriented," said acting Madison Assistant Police Chief Luis Yudice of
the largely incident-free rally for Sen. John Kerry. "They don't come out
to engage in any kind of disorderly conduct."

The 115 Madison officers on duty largely cleared pathways, protected
barriers and ensured crowd safety. A few escorted Kerry's motorcade from
the Dane County Airport.

No one was arrested, Yudice said, except Madison's ubiquitous marijuana and
hemp advocate, Ben Masel.

Masel said he was stopped at the entrance to the rally by a union member
working security who told him he couldn't bring in his sign, which read,
"Grow Hemp, Save Farms" on one side and "1 Acre of Hemp = 20 Barrels of
Oil" on the other.

He walked through anyway, Masel said. Then he was put in a chokehold and
wrestled to the ground by two other men wearing union shirts and "acting
like Republicans."

He was cited for disorderly conduct.

Yudice said that since the event was ticketed, organizers could decide who
could come inside the gates.

A pro-Bush UW-Madison student group outside the gates wearing giant pink
flip-flops and chanting "four more years" were asked only to stop using a
megaphone. They didn't have a permit to use one, Sgt. Dave McCaw said.

"We had discussed early on that whoever it was ... could express their
political views, and that included those against Kerry," Yudice said.

Madison Fire Department paramedics were also on hand to deal with the 12 or
so minor medical incidents, Assistant Chief Carl Saxe said.

Kerry's motorcade left the area at about 3 p.m. By 4 p.m., the barricades
that lined the street since Wednesday had been removed, Yudice said.

Janet Piraino, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's chief of staff, said the Kerry
campaign would be billed for costs incurred by the 60 Madison police
working overtime and any other related city expenses.

Costs wouldn't be available for a few days, Yudice said.

Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, said he was proud of the police for their
great attitudes despite the prospect of a long Halloween weekend ahead.

"I'm worried that they'll be fatigued for this weekend, but only slightly
because this is so exciting," Verveer said.