MADISON, Wis. -- Authorities said that behavior is changing at Madison's annual Halloween party on State Street and that property damage and arrests are at the lowest point in years.

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This year, WISC-TV was given a firsthand, behind-the-scenes look from the police transport area, which is set up outside State Street during Freakfest, to the arrest processing center where over-rowdy revelers are cited and released or sent to detox or sometimes to jail.

Police said that behavior at the Halloween party is changing year-to-year but they said if partiers cause trouble, they will be arrested.

"It's what we prepare for. We're here to make people accountable for their behavior," said Lt. Carl Strasburg, of the Madison Police Department. "Officers observe a violation, make an arrest and bring the person to our staging area."

For Freakfest, the police staging area was located just off State Street. WISC-TV was at the staging area after midnight Saturday, and several more people were taken into custody.

"Things have increased definitely in the last couple of hours, but it's still a good crowd overall. We have arrests -- steady arrests for things like alcohol, disorderly conduct; things we anticipated," said Strasburg, who has worked the event for dozens of years.

Authorities used 10 vans to continually move those arrested from the street directly to the processing center set up in a basement area downtown.

"It's smelly, cold, not a pleasant place. It's loud, and I wouldn't want my child or anyone else I know to come through this process," said Lt. Mary Lou Ricksecker, of the Madison Police Department. "We're in a constant safety evaluation of prisoners as well as doing the processing."

The processing includes questioning, fingerprinting, ticketing and court orders, WISC-TV reported.

"They're receiving citations for a reason and we want to give them info about the citation, plus get them out as efficiently as possible or send them to jail if that's where they should go," Ricksecker said.

No matter where the revelers are being sent next, no one leaves without getting a mug shot, police said.

"We also check if they're intoxicated to the level of needing to go to the detox facility," Ricksecker said.

More than 40 people arrested at the event spent Saturday night in jail, police said.

"The numbers are a lot less. I think the event, as far as I can tell, is a success from our end because we had less people to process," Ricksecker said.

"We want people to enjoy a safe event and go home safe and sound," Strasburg said.

Police said that more than 130 of those arrested ended up being cited and released. But they were given a hand marking that indicated they were not allowed back into the event.

Authorities said that three people stayed in detox Saturday night.

NOTE: Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Police Chief Noble Wray and others will be on "News 3 at 10: The Update" on Thursday for a panel discussion on Halloween in Madison. If you have a question you would like addressed to the panel, send it to tips@channel3000.com.