More than 40 people -- including downtown officials, business owners and residents -- gathered at the Franklin Street post office for a forum hosted by the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Participants discussed the positive and negative aspects of this year's new security measures and offered suggestions for improvement next year. "One of the reasons why we wanted this forum was to get input," said Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies.
This year's increased law enforcement and traffic restrictions reduced turnout to half of last year's crowd but also increased the town's bill by $35,000.
Jarvies said the increased security measures helped police officials achieve their goals of decreasing crowd size and boosting safety.
But forum participants offered mixed reactions to the new Halloween measures.
Robert Humphreys, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Commission, complimented the police department for the extra safety efforts.
"Last year there seemed to be more troublemakers in the crowd and people that came just to push their way through," Humphreys said. "This year I didn't see any of it."
But while some forum participants complimented the police department for their safety achievements, others offered criticism and suggested improvements for next year.
Several residents complained about the difficulty of accessing the festivities. "It just seemed really frustrating when we couldn't get back to my friend's apartment after Franklin Street," said Ferris Morrison, a resident of the Summit Hill apartments.
