(CU Independent/Molly Maher)
CU authorities and Boulder Police say they are prepared to handle the crowds that will likely flood Boulder for Halloween and the homecoming football game.
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said the time the game is scheduled should help matters.
“I think the early game time really works to everyone’s advantage,” Hilliard said.
The 11:30 a.m. game, which Hilliard said is not a “black out” game, gives people an opportunity to go home and relax before the evening.
“The worst scenario would have been an evening game with a late ending time,” Hilliard said. “It would be much worse to have 50,000 fans pouring off into the community at night for Halloween.”
He said the game date was chosen as part of a complicated scheduling arrangement with the Big 12 Conference.
“It depends a lot on television opportunities,” Hilliard said. “So it is important to the university in terms of media exposure.”
Hilliard explained that the scheduling happens years in advance, so they have known for a long time that this year’s homecoming game would be on Halloween.
Sarah Huntley, public information officer for the Boulder Police Department, said her department is preparing for Halloween.
“We are expecting that it’s going to go smoothly but we are preparing for anything that might come our way,” Huntley said.
Huntley said that while game security itself is usually handled by the CU Police Department, the Boulder Police Department plans to have officers prepared for when people leave the stadium.
She said that during the evening hours, there will be more than 40 officers working the Hill and Pearl Street Mall—a major increase from the normal 10 to 15 on-duty officers.
Huntley said the Boulder Police Department is hoping that Halloween is a safe night for everyone.
“We are hoping that things will remain relativity calm and that people who come into Boulder will behave safely,” Huntley said.
However, Huntley said she does expect that there will be an increase in tickets and arrests as officers are being told to take an assertive approach to any law breaking. She said this will involve making arrests depending on what the officer believes is appropriate.
In fact, Huntley said this year officers are being told to arrest participants of the “Naked Pumpkin Run,” instead of issuing them citations. She also said that close attention will be paid to large numbers of people who may attend the “Mall Crawl.”
“When you have very big crowds, something that is minor or small can blow up to something big very quickly,” Huntley said. “So, the idea is to prevent a big problem.”
Some students have said, however, they are hoping to avoid doing anything to get themselves into trouble.
Sam Schneiders, a 20-year-old junior architectural engineering major, said he plans to take it easy for the game so that he can prepare for Halloween.
“I think this may be a game that I go to sober,” Schneiders said.
Marc Miller, a 20-year-old sophomore geography major, said he is not concerned about the excess of police officers in Boulder on Halloween.
“I’m not particularly worried because I usually am not one of those kids who acts like an idiot,” Miller said.
All things considered, students have said they are expecting to have a fun-filled Halloween day and night.
“I really like the fact that the game is on Halloween,” Miller said. “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Lindsay Gulisano at Lindsay.gulisano@colorado.edu.
