MADISON, Wis. -- As the annual Halloween party on State Street draws near, police are busy settling into their command center where they will keep a watchful eye on the event.

Authorities will have four high-tech cameras above State Street, which will be continuously recording and controlled by officers in their newly expanded and improved command center.

"If we see something on the street like a gun, we can zoom right in and are constantly recording on DVR," said Lt. Mark Brown with the Madison Police Department. "It's been a little cramped in past years. We have a little more room; technology is better. It'll be nice to work out of here."

Brown added that all officers will be on the same radio frequency.

The new command center features spots for 25 various decision makers, from Madison police to the mayor.

In addition, plasma TVs hanging on the wall in the center will dispatch information and images from the street.

Authorities in the command center will share information, via videoconferencing, to an emergency operations center where decisions like cleanup will be made.

"This is something that is run like a textbook, (according to) federal standards in how to run a unified command structure," said Mike Hanson, a public information officer with the Madison Police Department.

Meanwhile, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student will be busy running his own command center in an effort to help students.

"We'll have a small army of volunteers on the streets," said Phil Ejercito, creator of Crashmadison.com.

Ejercito said he will be monitoring information coming from these people and passing along any important messages via text messages to anyone who signs up at crashmadison.com.

"If the situation arises, we want people to have correct info, up-to-date info, so people can make decisions on their own on what to do to keep themselves safe," Ejercito said.

He said he is not sure whether the new police plan will work, and he wanted those attending the event to have updated information in the palms of their hands.

The "CRASH" in Crashmadison.com stands for the Coalition for Reclaiming Area Streets on Halloween.

The group was set up a few weeks ago when Ejercito was unhappy with the city's ticket plan.

Ejercito said he recognizes the potential for people to flock to certain areas instead of leaving when they get a message, but he said he can't control what people do with the information.

Related Link:

Visit Channel 3000's Freakfest Section
Visit Channel 3000's Halloween Section