EAST LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Police say they are increasing patrols to help keep students, players and the community safe during the big rivalry football game between Michigan and Michigan State this Saturday.
Michigan State University police say their goal is to keep events that happened at previous rivalry games — like the Michigan tunnel brawl last year and the 2021 drowning of 18-year-old Brendan Santo in the Red Cedar River — from happening again.
“We will have additional personnel working this weekend," Michigan State University Chief of Police Chris Rozman said. “It’s most of our department and a lot of our surrounding agencies, our local and state partners that come to help us.”
Tens of thousands of people from across the state are expected to flock to East Lansing this weekend. They can even get a drink inside the stadium. Rozman says recently approved college stadium alcohol sales haven't created many problems for them.
"We’ve been tracking our alcohol numbers pretty closely since the beginning of the season including the games that we started selling alcohol and we have not noticed a difference in our medical response or our disorderly conduct calls or our ejections in the stadium," Rozman said. "Very minimal impact."
There will be police inside and outside the stadium, downtown and everywhere on campus to ensure safety to everyone celebrating the big game.
“Our security plan is a layered approach, and it’s a lot of things that you can see and a lot of things that you can’t see as well," the chief said.
After the brawl in the tunnel of the Big House last year between players, Rozman says there will be a police presence on the field as well.
“Anytime there’s an incident, we always look at ways at improving operations and part of that includes just assessing and changing some of our assignments and so far," he said.
The chief also hopes students look out for one another. During the last rivalry game in East Lansing, a visiting student, Brendan Santo, accidentally drowned in the Red Cedar River after drinking.
It's a story MSU sophmore Peyton Osentoski from Rochester knows all too well. He knew Santo through mutual friends.
"I think it’s terrible, but I think it’s great they’re getting more people out, looking, keeping people safe," Osentoski said.
MSU police say they're cautiously optimistic and are always available by phone or text in case of emergency. Kickoff is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
