Police ready for Oktoberfest, as Torchlight Parade is upon La Crosse

Around 100,000 expected for Saturday’s Maple Leaf parade

Oktoberfest getting started Thursday night with the Torchlight Parade in La Crosse.  

City police are ready, according to assistant police chief Rob Abraham. They’re, at least, ready for what is pretty certain will happen.  

“It does seem like something crazy happens on Oktoberfest and we’re always kind of holding our breath for that,” Abraham said. “When you get that many people and that much alcohol flowing, sometimes some crazy things can happen.”

Likely the most infamous example of that happened just five years ago – the dead squirrel toss mob scene that led police to spend more resources patrolling the college neighborhoods during the fest.  

“The blueprint is there and we follow it,” Abraham said of juggling personnel and responses throughout Oktoberfest weekend. “We make adjustments based on what we’ve seen. 

“If the squirrel was thrown on this street, then we know we need to watch that street a little bit more next time.”

There’s plenty going on behind the scenes for the four-day event. And, not just the people putting Oktoberfest together.

Police will will be out in force with plenty of reinforcements from out of town, which isn’t the simplest of things to coordinate, says Abraham.

“The hardest part is just getting all the officers and all the staffing into the right positions,” Abraham said, “and just making sure we have all the holes filled.”

Abraham added that officers who come from jurisdictions out of town are always paired up with city cops so that every interaction with festers is based on La Crosse police philosophies.