NEWBERRY COUNTY — Monday is Halloween, which of course means costumes, candy and plenty of fun, while local law enforcement would like everyone to have fun, they also want everyone to stay safe.
“We want people to have a safe, non-eventful (as in criminal), time on Halloween,” said City Police Chief Roy McClurkin.
McClurkin said that the city will observe Halloween on Oct. 31 and trick-or-treating will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and as always he asks that everyone please be safe.
He recommends that when children cross the street they use traffic signals and cross walks, as traffic will be heavily congested.
“If your kids have electronic devices, please be careful and do not let them use them while they are trying to walk, they could get injured,” he said.
To also help avoid accidents McClurkin recommends that parents escort their children at all times and make sure they are wearing costumes that are reflective, possibly choosing lighter colors. He also suggests using face paints instead of full face masks, because there is a potential of tripping and getting injured.
Both the Newberry City Police and the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office will have extra officers/deputies out to handle the volume of people. McClurkin said they will divide the city up into zones, and will have two to three officers in each of those zones.
“I tell those driving that Main Street to Kinard Street all the way to Downtown becomes congested, if possible, use side streets,” he said.
Sheriff Lee Foster said he will have extra deputies out to handle the volume of traffic around. Foster said they will also handle the Town of Prosperity, where there will be a fairly significant amount of people out and about.
“We keep track of certain places, that are congregating points on Halloween, such as King’s Creek Cemetery, Braselman Bridge (also known as Cry Baby Bridge), places people love to go during Halloween, reported that those places are haunted,” he said.
Foster and McClurkin suggest that when you take your child trick-or-treating only go to houses that you are familiar with. Foster said that all registered sex offenders are asked to remain home and anyone registered as a sexual predator have to remain home.
The NCSO and the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon will be keeping track of them as well.
“People can either go to our website, (newberrycounty.net/departments/sheriff-s-office/sex-offenders) and look on the sexual registry there, or they can go to SLED’s website (scor.sled.sc.gov) and they can look on there,” Foster said. “There is mapping software on both websites that allows you to see where sex offenders live, so you can avoid going to those houses when you trick-or-treat.”
When receiving candy, McClurkin says that if you receive candy that looks tampered with, or you are just unsure of, throw it out. Foster added that if you have a concern, call law enforcement immediately.
“The hospital will have their Halloween event on the same night, so that is an alternative for parents who do not want to take their kids door to door,” McClurkin said.
This year, people have been dressing up as clowns and scaring people, the City Police Department has been hearing that people are planning on dressing up as clowns to scare people.
“I caution people against that, could have dire consequences based on what has been going on in the news with these clowns. There will be zero tolerance, we do not want people to feel unsafe because of people trying to pull practical jokes,” he said.