Though many students will be dressed in flashy costumes and raucously taking to the streets to celebrate Halloween this weekend, police are not anticipating an increase in crime and disorderly conduct.
After the U-M game last weekend, emergency responders were overwhelmed, and police expect to receive more calls than usual this holiday weekend as well. However, East Lansing Police Department Lieutenant Steve Gonzalez said police probably will not be as busy as last weekend.
“I would say it falls between an average weekend and a weekend with a home football game,” Gonzalez said, regarding the anticipated number of calls officers will need to respond to. “Halloween is a fun thing, but we have no reason to expect a huge increase in crime.”
In 2013, the number of calls received on Halloween weekend was nearly double the number of service calls in previous weeks, but the number of arrests increased only slightly.
“With Halloween on a Friday this year, we are increasing our staff numbers during the afternoon and through Saturday and Sunday to deal with the increased call volume,” Gonzalez said.
There are more MSU police officers on campus on the weekend than during the week, and MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said staffing will be the same this weekend.
“There is no reason to expect anything out of the ordinary on campus just because of Halloween,” Taylor said.