A Halloween Message from the Chief

Here is a letter from Greenburgh Police Chief Joseph DeCarlo about Halloween Safety: Halloween has now become a celebration for both children and adults which is evidenced by the opening of several large retail stores in the town dedicated only to the sale of Halloween related items. This day has also evolved into the creative decorating of homes throughout the Town.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the parents, teachers and student leaders whose collective efforts helped make last year's Halloween the safest that our town has experienced in many years. This, of course, could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of our young people, most of who acted quite responsibly in their celebration of the holiday. To all those kids, a very special thank you.

We cannot, however, rest on our laurels and expect this Halloween weekend to be as successful as last unless we maintain the same level of vigilance. Therefore, I am again requesting the cooperation of parents, teachers, student leaders and all of our young people in making Halloween 2011 as safe and enjoyable as was 2010. This year I will again assign additional police officers to patrol throughout the holiday weekend. Their orders will be to take into custody those individuals who insist on ruining the enjoyment of the holiday for young and old alike through acting disorderly, terrorizing our younger citizens and committing acts of vandalism. People under 16 who are arrested will be processed as juvenile delinquents; those over 16 will be treated as adults. While these actions may, at first, seem a bit extreme or an overreaction to a fairly insignificant problem, my conversations with various civic and educational leaders have convinced me that such measures are indeed necessary to ensure the safety of our citizens and their property. I therefore appeal to ALL parents to impress upon their children the serious ramifications which engaging in this type of conduct can carry.

In past years I have been somewhat startled at the reaction of some parents when items such as eggs have been confiscated from their children on Halloween night. They simply could not see the harm in kids throwing a few eggs and resented the police interrupting their fun. Parents should be aware that egg throwing is the major cause of property damage occurring on Halloween. Such conduct results in the siding on homes and businesses being stained, broken windows, the obstruction of driver's views and injuries to children who are struck by them in the face or head. It is important that parents make their children aware of the harm that can be caused by egg throwing and insist that they not participate in this activity.

In closing, I also call upon our young people to keep Halloween safe and fun by resisting the temptation to be mischievous through avoiding those individuals and groups bent upon this intent. Keeping Halloween safe and happy is our collective responsibility and a task that can be accomplished as we noted last year. The Police Department is determined to do its share and asks for your cooperation.