The number of arrests during Halloween weekend for the Athens Police Department and Ohio University Police Department has decreased this year while it increased significantly for the Ohio Department of Public Safety Investigative Unit.
On Friday and Saturday, the Ohio Department of Public Safety Investigative Unit arrested 83 people for alcohol-related offenses. The unit arrested 32 people in 2017, according to a previous Post report.
On Saturday night, APD arrested 12 people and OUPD arrested 9 people, according to a news release from the City of Athens. In 2017, APD arrested 15 people, and OUPD arrested 12 people. All of the charges were alcohol or marijuana-related. One of the arrests was for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Anne Underwood, a junior studying child and family studies, said she thought there were a lot of police out and was surprised parties started to be shut down on Mill Street at about 6 p.m.
“I feel like they’re definitely being stricter than they usually are,” Underwood said.
The Athens County EMS responded to 14 calls for service. Five of these calls, EMS transported people to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital. In 2017, Athens County EMS responded to 25 calls for service. The Athens Fire Department also had six calls for service.
The concert stage began packing up at about 12:15 a.m., and the police started to move people off of the street by 12:30 a.m. The Athens Block Party was shut down entirely by about 1 a.m. Sunday.
Attendance for the annual Athens Halloween Block Party dropped this year due to the cold and rainy weather.
OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan said the block party crowd seemed to be diminishing as the years go by, and there would have been more people if it was warmer.
“(It) definitely feels like it gets lesser over the years,” Ryan said.
Some Halloween costumes this year included Post Malone, Bob Ross, aliens, Teletubbies and hippies.
“I like when people put in effort,” Ameena Huq, a senior studying commercial photography, said. “It’s not necessarily that you have to put in effort; but when I see it, I appreciate it because I put in a lot of effort into my costume.”
Erin Nesbitt, an employee at Uptown Costumes, said she enjoys seeing the creative costumes and doesn’t understand people who choose not to dress up for Halloween.
“I never ceased to be amazed by how many people choose not to dress up,” Nesbitt said. “I think it’s really unfortunate. I feel like they may say dressing up is lame, but I feel like when they get out there and they see people are dressed up, they regret not having a costume.”
