�ٺ���Ƶ

Long before Picnic Day 2010, UC Davis officials had begun examining the size and cost of the event. Now, in light of the unruliness that took over city streets on April 17, the university's review of the near-100-year-old Picnic Day tradition has taken on new importance.

Campus and city representatives first came together in January to discuss Picnic Day. Their next meeting is set for May 10; it is not an open meeting, said Gary Sandy, director of Local Government Relations for UC Davis Government and Community Relations.

He described the meeting as another work session for the partnership looking into Picnic Day, with participation by designated representatives from the campus and city, including the ASUCD and Picnic Day Committee, alumni, Government and Community Relations, and the Davis Chamber of Commerce and the Davis Downtown Business Association.

So, if you are not among the representatives going to the meeting, ands you have concerns or comments about Picnic Day, you are asked to channel them through the ASUCD or Picnic Day Committee, say, if you are student, or the Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Business Association if you are a merchant.

The campus and city police departments also will be represented at the meeting. Their officers, of course, saw last weekend's Picnic Day fun turn into Picnic Day trouble — so much that the city Police Department called in reinforcements from around the region.

The �ٺ���Ƶ Police Department was not one of them, because campus officers had their hands full with about 300 calls for service. Police and fire units handled 12 medical calls, and out of those, six people were taken in for hospital treatment.

Campus police reported making four arrests, three for alleged public drunkenness and one for a suspected narcotics violation. Police also reported issuing 13 citations and 59 warnings.

City police reported 33 arrests, most of them for public drunkenness, drunken driving and fighting. In a news release, Lt. Thomas Waltz said the arrest count compares with an average of 15 on previous Picnic Days.

Waltz said city police handled 516 service calls this Picnic Day, compared with 100 during a typical weekend.

With huge crowds in the downtown area, the Police Department summoned help from the Woodland and West Sacramento departments, the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol — and all of them sent officers to Davis.

Numerous fights broke out as the night progressed and the bars overflowed into the streets, Waltz said. One bar closed temporarily after a fight during which people threw furniture into the street.

Police noted many injuries, some serious. Waltz said an officer was among the injured, a result of trying to break up a fight at the intersection of Russell Boulevard and University Avenue.

According to Waltz, the officer came across the fight while responding to another fight, this one in a bar parking lot.

The officer stopped at the first fight he saw, only to be attacked by two of the participants, Waltz said. Other people came to the officer’s aid, but not before he suffered abrasions that required treatment at a hospital.

Officers took both suspects into custody, identifying them as 26- and 29-year-old men from El Cerrito. Police booked them on charges of felony assault.

Waltz said the night’s crime reports also included a strong-arm robbery in which an unidentified male ripped a purse away from a woman. And, Waltz said, police received numerous reports of sexual batteries to women who ventured into the drunken crowds.

One report incolved gunfire, reportedly directed at someone in the vicinity of downtown. The gunfire came from a passing car as the complainant was waiting for a ride, Waltz said.

“Officers were unable to respond to all reported disturbances, as resources dwindled during peak times,” Waltz said. “Bar bouncers reportedly stopped many fights without ever calling the police.”

Waltz said parties close to campus also had their share of fights.

There were other dangers as well, like when drunken revelers danced on top of an apartment complex. Police and fire officials feared the roof would collapse — so they declared the party unsafe.