Last weekend, while students dressed up as Donald Trump, Ken Bone and dinosaurs in the spirit of Halloween, another topic was being addressed behind the scenes — safety.
In preparation for Halloween weekend, Boston University Police Department Acting Chief Scott Paré said the department issued more officers to be on patrol.
“We got more uniform officers out there to help ensure our students were safe and well-assisted,” Paré said.
BUPD also partnered with the Dean of Students Office to email a letter to the BU community ahead of time, reminding students to be safe this Halloween weekend and to enjoy the festivities.
“Make plans to get home in a safe manner; stay away from people acting in a way that may harm you; be alert for scammers, thieves, and people who may try to victimize you,” the email stated. “Make sure your friends get home and keep an eye out for each other; and, comply with any police advisories and requests.”
Paré said during this holiday weekend, the department did not see any more crime on campus that they expected.
“This year our students and people in general were very well-behaved,” Paré said on Monday. “I mean, Halloween is tonight, but since it’s a Monday night, we expect it’s going to be pretty quiet.”
He was right — the department’s Monday crime logs show BUPD did not receive any reports for alcohol transports, nor were there any crimes out of ordinary.
As for the holiday weekend, BUPD saw a spike in alcohol-related medical assists, with a total of nine reported in the crime logs provided by BUPD. The intoxicated students, whom the officers assisted, were brought to the St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston Medical Center or the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for further treatment.
Paré said the small spike in alcohol transports is “to be expected” on weekends like Halloween, where many students go out to celebrate. Crime logs from BUPD mentioned five medical assists due to alcohol the weekend before Halloween.
Aside from medial assists, other reports mentioned in the crime logs over the weekend include larceny, underage liquor purchase and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.
In the future, Paré said BUPD plans to take similar action with increased police presence on campus for Halloween.
“Everything seemed to work pretty well this year, so we’re just going to get more officers out next Halloween just like this year, unless intelligence tells us to do something different,” Paré said.
Several BU students shared their Halloween experiences, many of which went by without any notable safety concerns or incidents.
Abby Merrin, a second-year graduate student in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said that her weekend was relatively uneventful.
“I mostly studied all weekend, and I carved pumpkins with my friends,” Merrin said. “My friends that did go out stayed on campus and didn’t have any issues with safety, as far as I know.”
Jesse Mendoza, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, also said she had a laid-back weekend.
“I got together with my chemistry study group and worked for a bit,” Mendoza said. “We went out together off-campus. No [safety concerns], not at all; we all had a good time.”
Ana Eustace, a CAS sophomore, said she felt pretty comfortable throughout campus and in Allston during the weekend because of how crowded it was.
“It [the weekend] was really fun,” Eustace said. “I went out around Allston with my friends. There were so many people out and about the whole weekend that it felt pretty safe.”
Joanna Oghoore, a freshman in the College of Engineering, said that BU upheld a safe community this weekend.
“I didn’t go out that much really because I had a lot of homework,” Oghoore said. “I went to a couple parties, but [I felt safe].”
