University Police Department officers don't increase the number of officers patrolling during Halloween weekend, but less people were arrested during the holiday weekend than in years past, said UPD Police Chief Gene Burton.
Three people near campus were arrested by UPD and 11 people were cited for offenses relating to alcohol, drug related violations and battery, he said.
Burton said these numbers may not include all arrests made in the early morning hours of Sunday because those police reports aren't due until Monday. The figures Burton provided reflected arrest and citation totals available at 12:00 p.m. Sunday.
Burton said the number of arrests was about average of Halloween weekend, but numbers from past years show that the initial number of arrests reported was low. Last year, 21 arrests were made during Halloween weekend, Burton said in a Daily News report.
Burton said UPD cites or arrests people either through their regular patrolling or complaint calls, but they do not actively pursue parties.
"I don't know if any of [the arrests or citations] came from a party," he said. "I know that several of them were from calls, but some of them were just on city streets."
Many UPD officers won't arrest people for charges such as the ones from last weekend unless they cooperate and aren't a danger to themselves or others, Burton said.
UPD does not have more officers patrolling than normal during Halloween weekend as they do for some other major campus events, Burton said.
"Most of the time [with] Halloween weekend, we look at it like any other weekend," he said. "Traditionally, if we are going to increase manpower, it's for the weekends like Homecoming or other activities as a general rule unless we get a sense of something going on or something special is happening. We treat Halloween weekend like any other weekend on campus."
Out of the three arrests made on Friday and Saturday, only one was for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Burton said he would have expected that number to be higher.
"Is it low because we didn't catch [drunk drivers] or is it low because the population is more attuned to that and we have more people walking or being responsible enough to not get behind a wheel?" he said. "I don't know."
Even though today is Halloween, Burton said he doesn't expect the number of arrests to be abnormally high.
"We'll have to wait and see," he said. "I wouldn't expect it to be any busier than a typical Monday."
BY THE NUMBERS:
3 arrests during Halloween weekend as of 12 p.m. Sunday
21 arrests during Halloween weekend 2010
12 arrests Saturday of Halloween weekend 2009
9 arrests Halloween weekend 2008
(According to Daily News reports)
2011 Breakdown
1 operating while intoxicated arrest charge
1 public intoxication arrest charge
1 illegal possession of alcohol by a minor arrest charge
1 battery charge
5 public intoxication citations
3 possession of marijuana citations
1 possession of paraphernalia citation
5 minor consumptions
(According to UPD Police Chief Gene Burton)
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