La Crosse, WI

Each year the La Crosse Police Department strives to provide a safe environment for our community to enjoy Oktoberfest.  In recent years we have seen the number of arrests and citations fluctuate. Our staff deal with many challenging situations throughout the Oktoberfest weekend. This year was no different.

• An officer, while on patrol, observed an individual strike another, causing them to fall backwards onto the ground. Upon police contact, the individual who struck the other, became resistive with officers and a foot pursuit ensued. During the attempts to take the individual into custody, they became physically resistive to the officers. One of the officers was injured during this incident.
• Another incident involved two individuals who removed a manhole cover, got into a verbal confrontation with a person in the area, and then the two physically beat the person, causing injury.
• In the early morning hours of Saturday, a large fight broke out on the roadway downtown, in the 100 block of 3^rd Street North. There were approximately 60 individuals involved, pushing and shoving one another.
• A fisherman observed an individual stumbling in Riverside Park by the water’s edge. The fisherman was able to move the individual to safety. The individual told the fisherman they were on their way home. The individual was safely united with a friend.

On a typical fall weekend in La Crosse, staff respond to approximately 550 Calls for Service. During the 2025 Oktoberfest weekend, staff responded to 1,116 Calls for Service between 5pm Thursday - Sunday at midnight, Below, are some of the calls we responded to:

• Out with Party – 185

• Trouble with Party/Trouble with Juvenile – 148/27

• Damage to property - 9

• Fight – 21

• Accidents/Hit and Runs – 26/6

There were 64 traffic citations written, 31 written warnings and 229 ordinance citations written.

Of the 229 ordinance citations:

• 147 citations were alcohol related; included in this number; 138 Underage Alcohol Violations, 4 False IDs
• 18 Disorderly Conduct
• 7 Resisting/Obstructing an Officer
• 25 Depositing Refuse Material.

There was a total of 50 arrests made.

“Officers work long hours during Oktoberfest, and I am grateful for their hard work, dedication and professionalism they showed throughout the weekend. We are thankful to be supported and assisted throughout the weekend by the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Department, the Wisconsin State Patrol, and several Officers from surrounding agencies, along with the first responders from the La Crosse Fire Department and Tri State Ambulance. It is a team effort to keep the city safe during Oktoberfest.” City of La Crosse Police Chief Shawn Kudron