Tonight is New Year's Eve - Americans' annual chance to go out and have a good time and celebrate the year, friends and family - sometimes over a drink or two. Perhaps the night's reputation for trouble has kept troublemakers off the street, but local law enforcement officials are pleased they are not quite so busy over the holiday as some might think.

Compared to two random Saturdays, the department is not that much busier during the holiday. On Nov. 5, the department arrested one person on disorderly conduct charges and no OWI arrests out of 45 complaints taken and nine citations issued.

Sheriff's Department Capt. Chip Meister said the relatively low numbers are due to people's increased awareness of the potential dangers of being out New Year's Eve and the need to stay safe.

"Typically New Year's Eve night is not a real busy night for us as far as drunk drivers go because there's a lot of publicity about not drinking and driving on New Year's Eve night because it is considered such a party night," Meister said.

Meister credits the Sauk County Tavern League's Safe Ride Program for keeping drunk drivers off the roads, as well as the local municipalities that provide taxis for people.

Lake Delton Police Chief Thomas Dorner said more people are staying in and drinking alcohol at home rather than at a bar or tavern, which could be a reason some departments' domestic calls are up while bar calls are down. According to the Lake Delton Police Department, there were five calls for disorderly conduct on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 and no OWI arrests.

During the weekend of Jan. 14-15, for comparison, there were two calls for disorderly conduct and no OWI arrests. Dorner cautioned just because there were no OWI arrests in Lake Delton during last year's New Year's weekend does not mean there were no drunk drivers around, though.

Many people still go out to the bars to celebrate the holiday, though. Kluge said by state law, Wisconsin bars can stay open all night, but from midnight until 6 a.m. cannot sell carryouts.

He said during the weekend of Dec. 31 through Jan. 1 last year, the department had five OWIs - by comparison, the weekend of Jan. 14-15, the department had two. Lt. Rob Sinden said the department received 26 calls for service on the weekend of Dec. 31-Jan. 1, including calls from traffic-related problems, possession of cocaine, underage alcohol, domestic disputes, a number of various types of thefts.

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