Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com
How does your agency handle special patrols or the unique problems associated with Halloween? My experience with this has been a bit spread out and I was wondering if there have been any significant changes in the past couple of years. When I was little Halloween wasn't scary beyond the costumes. Today? It's a different story. If you read Michelle Perin's recent article
Do You Have A Ghost, Ghoul or Goblin? then you know what kind of threats out
children may face as they go Trick-or-Treating and even later when they start to dig into that bag of goodies.
I may be naive or overly romantic in my thinking, but I think Halloween in small rural towns might still be safer than it is for kids who live in big cities or in the suburban sprawl of them. I live pretty far out in the sticks but my children still always have had an adult accompany them for trick-or-treating. Now that my children are all "too old" for such antics, we enjoy decorating and haunting our yard for the kids who come along in all of the various costumes their parents could buy or create.
Something I don't appreciate much is the teenagers that come along "trick-or-treating". Grow up. Once you hit somewhere in the age range of twelve you're too old to do this and not look silly;
especially if you're not even wearing a legitimate costume. If you're wearing your normal everyday grunge and then call yourself a hobo perhaps you need to consider a lifestyle change.
The point of this blog though was (supposed to be) how agencies actually patrol on Halloween. I worked for a small town where, during the hours of trick-or-treating, we all patrolled with our red & blues on. High visibility was the name of the game. We
wanted every potential bag-snatcher, vandal, etc to see that the cops were nearby. We
strong the parents, older siblings, and other relatives who were accompanying kids to see that the cops were nearby. We wanted our presence blasted for everyone to see.
Is there any value in that? Does your agency do something similar? Different? Please share your thoughts and comments.
Above all else, Stay Safe this Halloween and do all you can to increase the safety of the kids who are out there to have fun!
