Kelowna cops geared up for an extra rowdy Halloween on Friday night

Halloween falls on a Friday, which is good news for hooligans in Kelowna looking to get up to some mischief, but the RCMP said it’s ready for them. 

Kelowna RCMP media liaison officer Cpl. Allison Konsmo said that extra officers are going to be out on patrol dealing with drunk drivers, illegal fireworks, noise complaints and public intoxication.

“We have more besides the general duty enforcement. We also have the increased overtime patrols that are going to be happening along with the traffic services,” Konsmo told iNFOnews.ca.

“We’re going to increase the traffic enforcement and the visibility. That’ll be the priority, especially near popular trick-or-treating routes.

“Since Halloween’s on a Friday, the bars and nightclubs will be busier than usual with planned Halloween events.”

Cpl. Konsmo said Halloween is a bit more complicated to enforce compared to other party-focused holidays like Canada Day, since Halloween is spread throughout the city and on July 1 most people go downtown for Canada Day fireworks.

“Halloween often sees increased calls related to noise complaints and mischief and vandalism and then the party complaints of public intoxication,” the officer said.

“Something like Canada Day, for example, tends to involve larger public gatherings and concerts and fireworks displays, which can lead more to crowd control issues or impaired driving incidences and more of a public safety concern.”

Costumes can definitely make a police investigation more difficult since the whole city is going to be out in a disguise. 

“If there was a mischief and somebody calls in and decides this person was dressed as a ghost, that’s very difficult because there might be a lot of people dressed as ghosts,” she said.

“We have the issue with the identity and the masks and that can cause a problem for police when we’re trying to crack down on the mischief and the criminal behaviour that can happen.”

Parents who are worried about safety while trick-or-treating have been advised to stick to familiar areas, busy streets or a more controlled area.

“You can go to the mall. They always give out candy. Retirement complexes, a lot of them will say they will advertise, too, so you’re in a very controlled area,” Cpl. Konsmo said.

“Every portion of the city has an area that’s very popular and a lot of people tend to go trick or treating at. You’ll have more enforcement in those areas.

“We want people to enjoy themselves and enjoy the Halloween festivities, of course, but we always want them to be responsible.”