The Syracuse Police Department will increase off-campus patrols for the Halloween weekend, but residents and students said they are unsure what to expect in light of the recent spike in off-campus party activity.

SPD officers will focus on strictly enforcing the open container law and loud parties, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. Increased patrols will be in place in anticipation of the parties this weekend, but Connellan said he was not allowed to report on the exact number of patrols.

‘There will be strict enforcement,’ he said. ‘People can count on that.’

In the past, the Halloween weekend has not differed from other weekends as far as the number of students out in the Lancaster Avenue area, said Harry Lewis, treasurer of the South East University Neighborhood Association.

Though he noticed last Thursday and Friday were busier than usual, he said he is not sure if there will be more students this Halloween weekend. He said things like the weather would affect turnout. Friday is expected to have an overnight low of 38 degrees with partial showers, and Saturday should have an overnight low of 41 degrees, according to Weather.com.

Lewis said he thinks the police and Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety have done a good job patrolling the area in past years with the increased number of patrols during the Halloween weekend.

‘What they are doing now is so much improved to years ago, you can’t even compare. They weren’t out at all,’ he said. ‘There’s no such thing as perfect, but this is as close to perfect as you can get.’

He does not anticipate problems from students this weekend, he said. The biggest problem the neighborhood has seen was the smashing of a few pumpkins last week. For the past two years, there has been little to no student traffic on Lancaster for Halloween, said Lewis, who has lived on Lancaster for 51 years.

Jill Feigelman, a junior magazine and anthropology major, also said she does not know if there will be more students off campus this Halloween than usual because of the new greek life restrictions.

She said she is unsure of her Halloween plans, but she will most likely go to a party off campus like she has in previous years.

‘I hope they let people have fun, but they keep people safe,’ Feigelman said.

Doug Wexler, a senior political science major, said he hopes the police are understanding of college students about the drinking and parties.

‘It’s college,’ he said. ‘Obviously the law needs to be enforced for those under 21, but I don’t think they need to go out of their way to look for people.’

He said he has never encountered SPD, but his friends had gotten in trouble last weekend at 2 a.m. for having a loud party.

Wexler plans to go off campus this year for Halloween, which he has done about twice in the past, he said.

Alana Sullivan, a senior English and textual studies major, said she also plans on going out to the off-campus area for one of the Halloween nights. This will be her first time going off campus for Halloween. Last year she was in London, and during her first two years at SU, she spent Halloween on campus, she said.

She also said she doesn’t expect there to be much trouble in the off-campus area and said she thinks students can control themselves. But even with the increased patrols, Sullivan said she doesn’t think there is anything the police can do.

‘I feel like there’s not going to be very much they can do if there are a lot of people doing it and having parties,’ she said. ‘It’ll be like a MayFest situation.’

krkoerti@syr.edu

 

Published on October 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm