Local cops are reaching out to community residents and businesspeople for help in controlling Halloween mischief.
At the October meeting of the 68th Precinct Community Council, which was held in the community room at Shore Hill, 9000 Shore Road, Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez, the precinct’s commanding officer, stressed that making sure that Halloween is fun for all involves a delicate balancing act.
“Obviously, each year, we go through the same problems,” Rodriguez remarked. “If you have kids, we want kids to enjoy Halloween.” Nonetheless, Rodriguez said, certain behavior will not be tolerated.
For one thing, he noted, the precinct was “asking store owners not to sell eggs to kids on that day. It’s not so much that we want to ruin a kid’s Halloween, but usually the people who have no kids or are just looking to get through the holiday are the ones that are most affected.”
While youngsters may see throwing eggs as a harmless bit of mischief, such an activity is actually not so harmless, Rodriguez stressed. “When eggs hit a car or a house, they don’t come off that easily,” he remarked. “And, if the next day’s hot, they start melting into the property. We are trying to avoid that.”
In addition, Rodriguez said, being hit by an egg can actually result in injury. “If it hits your eye, you could lose the eye,” he stressed. “If it hits you on the wrong side of the head, it could really do some damage.”
The precinct is also going to be keeping a close eye out for students who may try to take a pass on school on Friday, October 30th, Rodriguez said. “We are going to be out there,” he promised the group. “We are going to be looking for truants. We are going to be taking truants back to school. If you have kids, make sure they go to school. A lot of times, kids start congregating, and then trouble starts, so it’s something we are going to be looking at this year.”
The weekend is going to be an extremely busy one in the precinct, Rodriguez added. Since the Yankees are in the World Series, he said, there will be a game that night, an event which tends to bring fans out to local watering holes.
“With large crowds, we do have to police those bars in those areas,” he noted, “so if store owners help us out with the eggs, it helps us to concentrate on other things.”
Also, Sunday is the day of the Marathon, Rodriguez reminded the group.
“It will be a long weekend for us, then Monday, we have a small break. Then, Tuesday is Election Day.”
