The East Lansing Police Department, with the assistance of multiple partner agencies, kept a heavy patrol of the city’s downtown entertainment district through Michigan State University’s Welcome Weekend.
The department received 348 calls for service between Friday and Sunday, compared to just 52 calls received during Welcome Weekend last year.
This year, officers issued 134 citations and made 35 arrests over the weekend. In 2025, only 10 arrests were made during Welcome Weekend, and only two were MSU students.
ELPD has not stated how many of this weekend’s 35 arrests were MSU students.
“Overall, the events of the weekend were consistent with our expectations,” ELPD Chief Jennifer Brown said in a news release. “Public safety in this city is a shared responsibility, and this weekend that partnership showed up.”
The East Lansing Police officers were joined by Michigan State Police officers, Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety officers and even mounted units from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
ELPD reports that nine different agencies — two community organizations and seven law enforcement agencies — worked together and put more than 100 personnel downtown over the weekend.
Patrols included mounted officers from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and the use of an ELPD drone for overhead supervision.
ELPD says officers will maintain an increased presence downtown through the fall, especially on game days.
