2015 Halloween Stats

Before the night crowds rolled in, SCPD Officer Deeg and Officer Warren were very popular with trick or treaters on Pacific Ave. SCPD handed out hundreds of book bags, pencils and stickers. 

We saw lots of kids and parents with smiles and very cool costumes.

After dark an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people converged on downtown Santa Cruz to celebrate Halloween.

 

This event has become the largest single informal gathering in the city. Throughout the Halloween day and evening, the Santa Cruz Police Department deployed over 175 uniformed personnel to patrol the downtown and remainder of city streets. From 8:00 AM on October 31st through 8:00 AM on November 1st, we handled 423 calls for service. 

Overall downtown Santa Cruz, arrests were down and citations were up from 2014. The following provides an overview of the night’s statistic.
The Downtown Deployment reported the following activity:
27 Arrests
20 for public intoxication

73 Citations Issued
40 were for Triple Fine violations. Of the Triple Fine citations, 33 were for open containers of alcohol.

Overall, the crowd demeanor was relatively calm and celebratory. Police presence included additional officers from all Santa Cruz County law enforcement agencies as well as the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office gang team. Furthermore, we had additional California Highway Patrol officer from out of county and the services of the CHP helicopter. We would like to thank all of the agencies who dedicated personnel and resources to assist the City of Santa Cruz throughout the night.

Proactive patrols included contact and close monitoring of several known gang members throughout the event. In addition to the downtown patrols, officers were added to patrols throughout the remainder of the city to address neighborhood safety and complaints of large parties. We were pleased to see the hard work paid off and there were no significant incidents of violence.