Halloween is the second busiest night of the year for police

SALT LAKE CITY — Halloween is the second busiest night of the year for police, rivaled only by The Fourth of July.

On Halloween, Corporal Colbey Bentley with the  Tooele Police Department said the majority of its calls will be for drug and alcohol issues.

However, Bentley said, the department does get a lot of calls about people who are taking the spooky holiday a bit too far. People often like to hide in bushes or dress up on their front porches and then pop out and scare people.

“Then they end up getting punched and we end up with an assault-type situation,”  said Bentley.

Another common call is people wearing a mask and following around a group of kids, according to Bentley. The scared Trick-Or-Treaters will then call the police about their stalker.  It’s the perfect storm because,  most likely, kids’ parents have just had a conversation with them about safety and ‘stranger danger,’  then a prankster decides following them will be a funny joke.

Trespassing also increases on Halloween night. People want to creep into someone’s yard and knock at the window to scare them.  Others will take a shortcut through a fence to catch someone off-guard.

However, police will get some relief this year since Halloween falls on a Tuesday.  The weeknight holidays seem to be much less trouble than those that fall on the weekend.

“People think, maybe I shouldn’t drink as much tonight. I can’t go into work hungover tomorrow. So it definitely does help,” said Bentley.

Bentley recommends parents talk with their teen and young adult children about appropriate ways to celebrate Halloween. Also, everyone should be aware of the increased pedestrians. Don’t drive distracted or impaired.

Devin Oldroyd contributed to this story.

Related: Halloween safety tips for costumes and your home