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Halloween
If you’ve been in any shop or supermarket over the last month, you will know from the aisles of sweets, creepy decorations and children’s wizard/witch costumes that Halloween is approaching.
For those of you who don’t like Halloween, read on for some advice on how to politely deter trick-or-treaters, and for those of you who do there’s some top tips to share with the kids on how to keep safe when trick-or-treating.
No trick-or-treaters
If you don’t want people to knock on your door this Halloween, download and print this card to display in your window.
If you have elderly or vulnerable relatives or neighbours, please consider printing a card for them to display, as unexpected knocks to the door may frighten or worry them.
Top tips for safe trick-or-treating
Parents and children should follow these simple rules to make sure they have a safe and considerate Halloween:
- Young children should ONLY go trick-or-treating with an adult
- Never let your child trick-or-treat alone. Make sure at least two friends are with them
- Have them plan their route and let you know what it is
- Ask them to be cautious of strangers – accept treats in the doorway but never go inside a house
- Remind them to walk on the pavements and cross the roads carefully using pedestrian and zebra crossings where possible
- Ask them not to frighten elderly people -always be considerate
- Set a time for them to come home before it turns too dark and late
- Remind them not to call at houses with ‘sorry, no trick or treat’ cards in the window
Dealing with anti-social behaviour
We sometimes see a rise in anti-social behaviour in the days between Halloween on 31 October and Bonfire Night on 5 November. If you are worried about anti-social behaviour please follow the advice below.
- Report anti-social behaviour on our website live chat between 8am-midnight. Alternatively you can speak directly to officers at community meetings or at your local police station.
- Keep a diary of incidents of anti-social behaviour. This gives us a history of events and can be used as part of the evidence gathering process
Information we receive from the community helps us identify common issues, hotspot locations, repeat offenders and patterns of behaviour
We also work closely with partner agencies, such as local councils, housing providers and schools, to tackle issues jointly, giving us greater powers to improve people’s lives.