Police praise public's relentless spirit to ensure horror-free Halloween

For the third year running Halloween passed without any serious incidents in the Avon and Somerset police force area as the public squeezed out horror in favour of a fun-packed night of good spirits.

Police adopted a similar approach to the past two years, providing high visibility patrols, following two weeks of proactive campaigning with partner agencies, retailers and schools, urging people to have an enjoyable but trouble-free All Hallows Eve and this paid dividends - for the second year running the number of emergency and non-emergency calls dipped well below the 1000 mark across the force area

Last night (Monday October 31) between 4.30pm and 2am this morning, the force's communications centre received 475 999 emergency calls, while the number of non emergency calls on the force's new 101 number totalled 844.

This is the lowest number of 999 calls recorded on Halloween for five years and represents a continual reduction year-on-year since 2007. Last year there were 571 999 calls, compared to 1300 in 2009, 1836 in 2008 and almost 2000 (1914) in 2007.

And while the number of 101 non emergency calls showed a slight increase – 844, compared with 620 last year – it continues the distincly downward trend. In 2009 there were 1693 non urgent calls, 2303 in 2008 and 2649 the previous year (2007).

Of the 999 calls logged, less than one-in-10 calls were Halloween-related incidents. These were mainly low level anti social behaviour incidents such as egg and flour incidents, inappropriate release of fireworks and other nuisance problems and some minor criminal damage. There were no arrests made for Halloween-related incidents.

Police rolled out well-rehearsed plans for the evening, building on work over the previous fortnight, which involved liaison with schools, retailers and community and youth organisations.

Officers in the force's six districts liaised with vulnerable groups such as the elderly, providing support and advice in the lead-up to Halloween, including distributing special window posters.

The aim was to build on the successful work of the past four years, which has seen a significant fall in the number of calls to the police – both emergency and non-emergency on October 31st.

Avon and Somerset's operation formed part of a cross-border, joined-up approach throughout the south west to stamp out potential Halloween and Bonfire Night nuisance problems.

The two-week operation in Avon and Somerset which concludes next Monday Nov 7th following the Bonfire Night weekend, has focused on promoting the fun side of the festivities, aiming to ensure people have a good time and feel safe inside and outside their home.

Heading up the Halloween operation, Chief Inspector Yannis Georgiou said: "Once again our pre-planned campaign of working with partner agencies,

retailers, vulnerable members of the community and young people paid dividends with another successful All Hallows Eve.

"Our plans under the banner of Operation Relentless – keeping the horror out of Halloween, was led by front-line Safer Stronger Neighbourhood teams,

comprising police officers, police community support officers and special constables. They joined forces with our partners including neighbourhood watch,

retailers, schools and community groups and councils. "Our aim was to ensure people had an enjoyable time, providing support and reassurance to elderly and vulnerable members of the community, while cracking down on anti social behaviour and nuisance problems, caused by a selfish minority, intent on spoiling the evening's celebrations. "However there were only minor incidents reported and no arrests for Halloween-related anti social behaviour."This coming weekend we will have officers out and about in local communities, patrolling known anti social behaviour hotspot areas, as part of our highly successful Operation Relentless, so that families can experience a safe and enjoyable Bonfire Night," confirmed CI Georgiou.

Did you have any problems last night? Let us know your thoughts.

Photo by Erwss, peace&love on flickr