Mischievous teens face Halloween curfew

The traditional 9 p.m. curfew will be enforced inside McMinnville city limits on Halloween as people under 18 caught outside their homes after that hour will face citation.

According to McMinnville Police Captain Bryan Denton, extra patrols will be made to deter would-be pranksters and vandals.

“People who cross the line will be dealt with harshly,” Denton said of people who are caught damaging property and committing offenses which could endanger the public. “We want people to have fun during Halloween, we just want them to do it without it being at the expense of others.”

While lawmen have generally been lenient on yard rollers, police draw the line on activities such as egg throwing, spray painting, hay burning, and tossing water balloons at moving vehicles. These activities are deemed potentially damaging and hazardous. However, lawmen say such incidents have dropped nearly to zero over the past few years, partly due to the early curfew.

The Halloween curfew, to be observed on Monday night, began about 15 years ago and almost immediately led to a drastic drop in Halloween offenses. Underage people caught out after that time, even those in vehicles, except those coming from official work, church or school activities, can be cited into court or even taken into custody and held for their parents to pick up.

Along with reminding people of the curfew, Denton is reminding motorists to use care due to the number of trick-or-treaters who will be traveling door to door.

“We’re asking motorists to slow down in the residential neighborhoods because most of the trick-or-treating will probably be going on after the sun goes down, making children harder to see,” Denton said. “Children sometimes get excited and could dart out into a street without warning.”

Police want parents to be sure trick-or-treaters are accompanied by a responsible adult and that their outfits have some type of reflective strip or flashing light so they can be seen by motorists. Police say it is also a good idea to carry a flashlight.

Police also recommend trick-or-treating in familiar neighborhoods and that parents closely examine all candy at home before allowing their children to eat it. Any suspected tampering of candy should be reported immediately to police.