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In the past San Luis Obispo had become a
west coast party destination for Mardi Gras. After years of
increasingly serious and escalating problems including violence,
injuries, property damage, and crowd control problems, the situation peaked in 2004 when a large-scale riot broke
out. The results were over 200 arrests, many injuries, extensive
property damage, and unwanted national media attention.
Since then the San Luis Obispo
City Council with support from Cal Poly University, Cuesta College,
and local students joined together to stop the abuse and violence.
This was accomplished by:
-
bringing
in large numbers of police officers
-
DUI check
points throughout the City
-
triple
fines for offenders and prosecution to the fullest extent of the
law of all offenders
-
a
statewide advertising campaign aimed at discouraging Mardi Gras
visitors
-
student
cooperation in not hosting out of town guests or parties that
weekend
Many of these
efforts were accomplished at a high financial cost to the City and
the reputation of Cal Poly.
Fortunately,
all of the efforts were successful and in the last three years there
have been no Mardi Gras events, few Mardi Gras destination visitors,
and fewer problems, along with a marked decrease in the number of law
enforcement personnel deployed.
Backwards is NOT the Direction to
Travel
This year, several Cal Poly
students have been encouraging the return of Mardi Gras in San Luis
Obispo. To be clear, there are NO PUBLIC MARDI GRAS EVENTS OFFERED
IN SAN LUIS OBISPO and visitors can again expect lots of law
enforcement personnel, triple fines, and strict enforcement.
What You Can Do To Help
-
Continue
to discourage out of town visitors during the Mardi Gras weekend
-
Talk to
your friends and neighbors about how to avoid areas that have
traditionally been problematic and encourage them not to host
parties or guests during that time
Thank you for your continued cooperation and
support in making
San Luis Obispo a safe and enjoyable place to
live.
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