Davis police arrested 44 people and cited 56 others, mostly for alcohol- and noise-related violations, during the Picnic Day enforcement period, according to preliminary numbers released Monday.
So far, those totals are down from last year’s final tally of 46 arrests and 83 citations, but Lt. Tom Waltz cautioned that his department is still awaiting reports from police agencies that assisted local officers with Picnic Day enforcement.
“There are still arrests and citations we won’t know about until next week,” Waltz said.
Most of the arrests and citations occurred on Saturday, although the Picnic Day operational period officially extended from 4 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Sunday.
The Police Department reported receiving a total of 40 Picnic Day-related calls for service, more than half of them — 27 — triggered by rowdy parties, according to Waltz. The others stemmed from music or other noise deemed too loud for neighbors.
Thirty-one of the 44 arrests were alcohol-related, such as for public intoxication and driving under the influence, Waltz said. The other types of arrests were not specified, but a glance at the Police Department’s online incident log shows apprehensions for battery, fighting in public and drug-related offenses.
Of the 56 citations issued, 19 were handed out in the so-called “safety enhancement zone” in and around the downtown area, resulting in doubled fines for offenses including violations of the city’s open-container, smoking and noise ordinances, as well as for urinating in public.
Officers on duty Saturday night reported seeing larger downtown crowds but observed that they were better-behaved than in previous years, an assessment that stayed true for the remainder of the night, Lt. Paul Doroshov said.
“We had our share of problems but it was manageable,” Doroshov said, noting several fights that required breaking up during the night. But thanks to a strong police presence, “we didn’t have anything major, which is a good thing.”
On the UC Davis campus, where activities are generally considered more family-friendly, preliminary numbers show police made five arrests on campus — three of them for public intoxication — and gave out just seven citations for alcohol-related violations, Chief Matt Carmichael said.
“It was a very good Picnic Day,” Carmichael said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene