Watch those tricks

The Boulder and CU Police Departments are preparing for Halloween this year with extra officers in the streets as rumors of a Mall Crawl continue to brew, said Sarah Huntley, the Boulder Police Department spokeswoman.

The Mall Crawl began in the late 70s as a big party on Pearl Street. As word of mouth made it more popular, each year things became more and more out of hand until the Mall Crawl became practically a violent riot, according to a Boulder PD press release.

Boulder police shut down the party starting in 1990, according to an article written in 2003 by Jon Caldara of the Daily Camera.

After a Facebook page calling for the revival of the party gained momentum, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner and Deputy Police Chief Greg Testa released a statement discouraging the public to participate in the Mall Crawl.

“Based on our past experiences with this event, we are united in our opposition,” the statement said. “The Mall Crawl poses serious risks and costs to our residents and taxpayers.”

However, the Facebook page “Don’t Taze Me Br09” has grown to 931 members. Huntley said police are backing up Beckner and Testa’s “proactive message” with a plentiful number of police officers in the streets.

“We are preparing with extra staffing that night,” Huntley said. “There will be more than 40 officers working the day and night. With the announcement yesterday that the football game starts at 11:30 [a.m.], we’re also going to have to vamp up staffing early in the afternoon.”

Huntley said the Boulder police will be taking a zero tolerance approach on lawbreaking.

“Anyone violating municipal or state law…will be arrested,” Huntley said. “Last year we issued citations instead of arresting people, but we discovered they weren’t giving us their accurate information.”

Huntley added that in a large crowd, it is hard for the police officers to keep track of all the violators of the law, hence the zero tolerance.

Tristan Hobson, a 22-year-old junior marketing and studio arts double major, said he thought it was ridiculous that the police were trying to shut down the Mall Crawl based off of the creation of a Facebook group.

“I think it’s silly that they’re trying to break down a tradition in our community,” Hobson said. “I think they should embrace it and make it a safe event instead.”

Huntley said the Boulder police are anticipating certainly the evening and late night hours to be the busiest for patrolling for crime.

“We’re going to focus on the hill and mall area,” Huntley said. “Those are by far the busiest parts of town on Halloween.”

CU Police Cmdr. Tim McGraw said he knows the CU-Missouri football game will “have its impact” on debauchery, but the CU Police Department is preparing with extra staff members working a Halloween shift, just as the Boulder Police Department is.

“Essentially what we’re doing is just making sure that we’ve got full staffing levels,” McGraw said. “We’re working constantly with Boulder PD to make sure that our sheriff resources are available.”

Most CU students seem apathetic about the increase in police officers on Halloween, and said it won’t affect their plans.

“I don’t think it’s really going to stop me from going out and enjoying my Halloween,” said Gabi Mazon, an 18-year-old freshman pre-communication major.

Lauren Kidd, an 18-year-old freshman psychology major, said she didn’t expect much out of police officers.

“We heard they were just going to be stopping random kids on the hill, which I think is unfair,” Kidd said.

Max Roesler, a 20-year old open-option major, said he didn’t think the police would be any more present on Halloween than any other night.

“They do it every weekend,” Roesler said.

Richard Bonham, a cab driver in Boulder for Yellow Cab, said Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year for cab drivers.

“I wish every night were Halloween,” Bonham said.

Halloween saw relatively little crime last year, unlike years past, McGraw said.

“Historically there have been a number of Halloweens that turned into a bigger deal,” McGraw said. “It’s a pretty celebratory time and often times we encounter folks who are drinking too much, but last year the number of instances certainly weren’t extraordinary.”

He added there have been riots up on the hill and instances of sexual assault on Halloween.

The previously mentioned Boulder PD press release, which contains Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner and Deputy Police Chief Greg Testa’s statement, can be accessed here.

The previously mentioned Daily Camera article by Jon Caldara can be accessed here.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Julie Ryan at Ryanja@colorado.edu.