Police prepare for Halloween

Chapel Hill's upcoming Halloween bash will fall on a Sunday night this year.

And though the thought of Monday morning work or classes might make some revellers cringe, officials say there's no way the celebration would move to Saturday night.

Saturday is reserved for the University's 7 p.m. Homecoming football game against Miami.

In short, the weekend is a sort of double-header. Officials say the game actually might make the weekend more attractive to visitors and counteract any Sunday slump.

Police, who started planning for the night in May, foresee a Halloween crowd of about 70,000 this year - smaller than last year's record-breaking 78,000.

Although the crowd might not surpass last year's, when Halloween fell on a Friday and the weather was ideal, officials say they're buffing up safety teams more than ever.

Officers on duty, pulled from 17 agencies across the region, will increase this year to more than 330 - about forty more than in 2003.

"We always plan for the largest possibilities," said Chapel Hill police Chief Gregg Jarvies. "We'll see what happens."

The Chapel Hill Fire Department also plans to add an additional fire and emergency services team because the celebration has started to spread farther west on Franklin Street and south on Columbia Street in recent years.

"We're not planning for a smaller crowd. We don't have the luxury to do that," said Fire Chief Dan Jones. "All it takes is someone in the crowd to do something really stupid, and a lot of people would get hurt in a hurry."

Halloween also has downtown businesses preparing for an onslaught of customers and a big business weekend.

I Love NY Pizza, at 106 W. Franklin St., usually closes about midnight on Sundays but will remain open until after 3 a.m.

Hector's, at 201 E. Franklin St., which usually is closed Sundays, will make an exception for the night and serve until the streets are cleared.

"It's the night we pay the rent with," said manager Jose Constantina.

Downtown streets will close about 9 p.m. Sunday. Vehicles will not be allowed to park on East Franklin Street after 3 p.m. After 6 p.m., cars will be towed with a recovery cost of at least $103.

Ghouls, goblins, witches, werewolves and anything else flocking to Franklin Street can take shuttle buses from four park-and-ride lots that will run from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. for $5 round trip.

Police, as always, say that alcohol is prohibited where traffic is blocked, and that open containers of alcohol and coolers are not permitted on any public street or sidewalk.

"If people just use some common sense when they're down there and have tolerant attitudes toward other people at the party," Jones said, "everybody can have a good time."

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.