Halloween revelers celebrate on the Pearl Street mall Saturday night. (CU Independent/Lee Pruitt)
Boulder Police Department is reacting positively to the manner in which the Boulder community celebrated Halloween and homecoming this weekend, according to a police department news release.
Police Chief Mark Beckner said in the news release that the night of Oct. 31 was relatively quiet this year, in comparison with years past.
“Our goal was to have a quiet evening in Boulder, and this was one of the quietest Halloweens we’ve had in a long time,” Beckner said. “Our pro-active efforts paid off.”
Despite the precarious combination of Halloween, homecoming weekend, a home football game, talk of reviving the Mall Crawl and the end of daylight saving time (which meant an extra hour of open bars), Boulder Police Department made only one arrest and reported no major altercations, according to the news release.
An estimated 4,000 people crowded Pearl Street Mall, according to the news release. Information about the nature of the arrest is not available at this time.
According to the news release the Boulder Police Department scheduled more than 100 officers to work on Halloween in hopes of staving off the disorderly behavior that has characterized Halloweens in the past. More than 40 of these officers were located on the Pearl Street Mall. Another large group patrolled University Hill, the site of rioting behavior on Halloween five years ago.
City Manager Jane Brautigam said in the news release that she is pleased with the outcome of the preventative measures the police department took.
“I am proud of our officers and our police department for recognizing the potential problems and planning for Halloween,” Brautigam said. “History has shown us that it is important to address small issues before they become bigger ones, and we accomplished that.”
Some festival seekers on Halloween night said they also noted the increase in police officers on duty.
Tahani Al Ali, a 19-year-old sophomore human resources management major, said she was out on Pearl Street until around 11 p.m. on Saturday.
“I noted that there were a lot of police officers,” Al Ali said. “I thought that was good, just in case anything happened.”
Dina Piterniece, a 23-year-old senior double majoring in psychology and sociology, said she was also out on Pearl Street.
“I guess [police] were more on the streets to control the cars,” Piterniece said. “I think they controlled the crowds big time since they closed the garage and everything. They tried to do everything so people wouldn’t go out, or stay out and drink late. They did all they could to prevent it.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sheila V Kumar at Sheila.kumar@colorado.edu.
