Scarsdale Police Department Keeping Halloween 2009 Safe for Children

The Village of Scarsdale is committed to providing a safe, secure and enjoyable environment for all its residents and employees. During the celebration of Halloween, the Scarsdale Police Department requires the cooperation of merchants, parents, teachers and the youth of Scarsdale in helping to make the event safe and enjoyable for everyone.    

This Halloween, 2009, the police department will benefit from a partnership we have formed with the community that will multiply our resources to help ensure everyone’s safety for Halloween. Discussion of the events surrounding past Halloweens have helped to formulate suggestions for managing Halloween 2009. 

 

One of the most important aspects of any successful plan is education of all stakeholders including the village administration, police department, fire department, school system, PTA’s and students. The enlistment of the media, both visual and written, is essential. The use of the Village of Scarsdale web site, cable T.V. local access channel and the news media (The Scarsdale Inquirer, The Journal News, etc...) to disseminate information to the community on relevant actions taken and planned for the well being of all citizens will be employed. School flyers will be distributed to provide safety tips and guidelines for a safe and enjoyable Halloween. 

 

There must be considerable effort made to educate the community concerning the behavior that will not be tolerated and the consequences that will be imposed. Patrol officers and detectives will be assigned to the schools to discuss Halloween safety and acceptable boundaries of behavior.  These educational seminars can be directed to students at the middle and high schools. The police department has already instituted increased police presence among the youth of the community, by assigning officers to walk into the High School and “check  in” at the principal’s office. During these visits, officers can interact with the students in a less formal manner. 

 

The following is the proposed action plan for Halloween night, Saturday, October 31, 2009:

 

The police department, in partnership with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA), will sponsor a food drive a week or so prior to Halloween, to encourage the youth of the community to donate canned goods in lieu of their traditional purchase of eggs and shaving cream. In addition, local merchants will be requested, through direct contact and flyers, not to sell spray paint, shaving cream, eggs and other items used for mischief in the weeks leading up to Halloween. Upon request and in some circumstances, the Police Department will assist those parents who wish to have open and frank discussions with their children to create a positive exchange to cut off any suspicion that parents may have relative to bad behavior on Halloween night.   All parents will be encouraged to get more involved in the actions of their children;

 

A “Give the Day Back to the Kids” will be encouraged by the Police Department where adult residents would accompany their children while trick or treating and thus completing all door to door solicitations by specific times. This “voluntary curfew” should be monitored by parents to ensure compliance. The voluntary curfew will be as follows: children under 11 years of age should be finished trick or treating by 7:00 p.m.; children 11 years of age or older should complete their trick or treating by 8:00 p.m. Those children 13 years of age or older should be monitored throughout the evening and all trick or treating will be monitored by police, parents and volunteers.  All trick or treating should be completed by 9:00 p.m.;

 

Safety volunteers will be utilized on Halloween evening. Employing the use of safety volunteers as additional eyes and ears for the Police Department and particularly, to monitor activity and the voluntary curfew. Scarsdale volunteer firefighters will be used to assist the Police Department in this manner. These safety volunteers will be strategically placed throughout affected areas and be re-deployed as needed. Teams consisting of two volunteers will be established to communicate with personnel at police headquarters. These volunteers will be mobile, moving throughout an area reporting potential problems to the police desk or command post;

 

Police presence will be similar to that deployed in 2007. Large crowds, particularly unruly ones, present a condition that may be problematic for law enforcement and the community as a whole. Due to the size and aggressiveness of the crowds which may be encountered, more deliberate police tactics will be implemented by officers working the event. The deployment will include uniformed and plain clothes officers, bicycle officers and at least two detectives (one being the Youth Officer). The plain clothes officers will mingle with the crowds, identifying potential “hot spots” and directing uniformed patrol to the areas of concern. Eggs and shaving cream will be proactively confiscated;

 

Perpetrators who are identified participating in undesirable activity will be removed from the crowd. The police department will utilize an Incident Command Vehicle (ICV) in situations of a special nature requiring additional police resources. The ICV (which may be staffed by a supervisor, a detective or a patrol officer) will be parked at the areas experiencing a large amount of youth activity. The ICV will be equipped with the resources necessary for processing individuals who have been involved in unacceptable behavior. Youth who engage in activities that do not rise to the criminal level will be brought to the ICV where an officer will contact the youth’s parents and ask them to pick up their children;

 

Youth committing criminal offenses will be treated pursuant to the New York State Family Court Act/Penal Law and held at Police Headquarters. Those under sixteen years of age will be brought to headquarters and referred to Westchester County Family Court and will be issued appearance tickets for Family Court before they are released to a parent or guardian. Those youths sixteen and over involved in criminal activity will be arrested and booked at police headquarters. In either case, the offending party will be removed from the area of occurrence. In all circumstances, everyone will be processed in accordance with the law. Criminal offenses that will be prosecuted include criminal mischief (intentional and/or reckless damage to property), assault (intent to cause physical injury to a person), larceny (theft of property), menacing (placing someone in fear of injury), reckless endangerment (engages in conduct creating risk of injury) and robbery (forcible stealing);

 

Discussions with village leaders, community representatives, District Attorney and concerned citizens will clearly outline the level of behavior the police department will tolerate and the enforcement tactics that may be used. These discussions will include options available to the police department to curtail crowds. The District Attorney will provide guidance to the police department in regard to actions that would constitute a crime (violation, misdemeanor, or felony); the range of charges that are available to patrol officers and when the DA’s office will prosecute. This is critical for insight and knowledge that will streamline enforcement action(s) during an event and the subsequent successful prosecution of the violator(s).  Strict compliance with police officers and public safety personnel will be required of all Halloween participants when lawful orders are given. Depending on conditions in the Village on Halloween, the Scarsdale Police Department will utilize the intermunicipal assistance agreement with Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe Police Departments via the Drug and Alcohol Task Force. In addition, if needed, assistance will be requested from neighboring police departments under the Westchester County Mutual Aid Response Plan. 

 

It is important for the police department and the community to continue to work together to foster an enjoyable and safe Halloween. We must all have the mindset that the actions of the participants reflect upon the parents and the entire community. It is believed that by utilizing the focused and sustained approach outlined above we can alleviate most of the problems experienced in years past.

 The following links to Halloween safety tips are provided for your convenience:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/kids/treats.html

American Red Cross Halloween Safety Tip

http://www.candyusa.com/Healthy/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1408