Streakers Face Dressing Down by Authorities
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Police said Friday that they would crack down on next week’s “Naked Mile,†the annual nude jogging ritual across the University of Michigan campus that attracted at least 500 runners in 1999, nearly 10,000 spectators and a few devoted Internet sites.
In the past, police focused on crowd control at the event, which was started 14 years ago by a dozen members of the university track and rowing teams to celebrate the end of classes.
But as the crowds of spectators grew, local officials became concerned that the street party could lead to sexual assaults and violence.
Fearing that an accident could result as people try to cross busy intersections and dark paths during the midnight run, police this year decided that runners must be clothed, said Ann Arbor interim Police Chief Walter Lunsford.
Those who run naked will be arrested for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $500 fine, he said.
“We need to do more than in past years to try to bring this thing to an end,†Lunsford said. “There’s an increasing potential here that somebody is going to get seriously hurt.â€
Lunsford said those charged with indecent exposure would be placed on the state police department’s Sex-Motivated Crime Report, a listing that could harm a student’s job prospects.
“You got people out there making a cottage industry of capturing this on videotape so it can be sold on the Internet,†he added.
Several Web sites sell photos or videos of participants in past “Naked Mile†runs.
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