ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
In a matter of days, ghouls and witches and other spooky creatures will be out and about throughout the Liberal community, and the Liberal Police Department will be on hand to make sure everyone stays safe.
“Like every year, we're going to be out in the residential areas as much as possible while doing the regular patrols and all of that. We'll be in those areas especially since there will be more pedestrians out and about, and younger children especially are just so excited about their costumes and being out trick-or-treating that they might not be fully paying attention to their surroundings,” LPD Capt. Jeff Wade said. “We don't want any tragedies to happen that night, so we want to remind drivers to be on the lookout for younger children who are out and about trick-or-treating who might be darting in and out of the streets to their next destination. We'll also be on the lookout for any unsafe driving, and they will be ticketed if caught. This is also the time of year when some people might be going around and smashing pumpkins and other similar vandalism, so we'll also be on the lookout for that. That's what we'll be paying particular attention to on Halloween night, and since Halloween is on a Thursday, we expect things to hopefully not be quite so crazy since it is a school night. The rest of that weekend, however, we'll also be on the lookout for stuff, and if anyone is interested in keeping the Halloween spirit going for at least an extra day or two, the Arkalon Trail of Terror will be going on the night of Nov. 2 at Arkalon Park.”
Wade added it is important for drivers and pedestrians alike to make sure they are paying extra attention Halloween night.
“The main advice I would give people for drivers that night is to slow down. I know the speed limit in the residential areas is 30 mph, but since there will be more pedestrian traffic, slow down and take a little extra time to get to wherever you're going and keep your head on a bit of a swivel. Keep your phone off and make sure there aren't any distractions that could affect your driving. Overall, make that conscious effort to be more aware of what's going on around you and don't rush yourself,” Wade said. “Like with the drivers, families who will be out and about should take a little extra time and slow down. That can be kind of hard, especially with young children, but be sure to keep an eye on them and if they're really little, keep hold of their hands. Like I said before, everyone's excited about being out trick-or-treating and having fun, but just a few simple safety precautions will make all the difference. And if you're taking your children out, talk to them beforehand about what you expect from them as far as their behavior and set some ground rules. With costumes themselves, if you have some reflective tape or something like that that can be applied, that would work really well, or be sure and have a flashlight with you so you can wave it and make yourself visible. The more visible you can be, the better.”
Wade also offered advice for people planning on attending Halloween parties.
“Have a good time, have fun with the people you're gathering with, but if you know you'll be drinking, have a designated driver plan in place, whether it's someone you call or one of the rideshare services available here in town,” Wade said. “And if you're at a party and happen to put your drink down and walk away, get another drink and toss the other one out. But the main goal is for everyone to get home safely, no one wants to have a party and then get the news later on about one of their guests not making it home.”
Wade said for the most part, Halloween in Liberal tends to be on par with other major holidays.
“Halloween is typically about the same as the other major holidays, and we typically don't have too many major problems. There's always one or two incidents we get called to, but nothing really out of our control,” Wade said. “For this year, we hope the Halloween holiday will be about like last year, which ended up being mostly peaceful, which we were thankful for. And with Halloween being closer to the middle of the week, we hope it'll be that way since school will be in session the next day and parents will still have work to go to. I'm also hoping any parties that go on aren't too outrageous. With Halloween, we get more of the loud party calls and noise complaints, and we've also had some vandalism calls to deal with. But again, that's nothing we can't handle in our capacity as officers.”
Overall, Wade said, he and the rest of the LPD staff hope everyone in town has a fun and safe spooky holiday.
“Like every other holiday season, we hope everyone has a fun and safe time, we don't want there to be any tragedies we have to respond to,” Wade said. “We're also all really looking forward to the Arkalon Trail of Terror, that's our biggest fundraiser of the year for Shop With A Cop program, and that always helps so many local children have a brighter Christmas than they might have otherwise.”
