Halloween Safety
Halloween is a fun night for kids and adults alike. It is a time when thousands of trick-or-treaters dress up in their favorite costumes and venture out to fill their bag and buckets with all the candy they can carry. Adults dress up in their best costumes to head to parties, local bars and restaurants to celebrate as well.
As with every Halloween, we urge you to be safe and watch out for one another.
If you follow these safety tips, everyone will have a great night!
Parents & Children:
- Parents should plan their trick-or-treat route ahead of time and avoid busy streets.
- Drive extra safely on Halloween. Drive below the posted speed-limit, especially in residential areas. Children are excited and may not be paying attention to vehicles when crossing the street. Do not pass another vehicle that has stopped in the roadway. They could be dropping off children.
- Children under the age of 12 years-old should trick-or-treat with an adult.
- Explain to your child the importance of looking both ways twice and listening to your surroundings before crossing the street. Remind them to continue to watch for cars even when they are crossing the street. Remind them not to cross mid-block.
- Trick or treat with a group and stay together.
- Parents or responsible adults should accompany the children while trick or treating.
- Children should wear visible costumes that are easy to walk in and see. Light-colored costumes are best. Use retro-reflective tape.
- If you wear a mask, make sure you can see. Consider using non-toxic make up instead. Carry a flashlight so drivers can see you.
- This is a night of heavy foot traffic, use a crosswalk when available or cross at intersections. Look both ways before crossing the street!
- Only approach well-lit homes that have their porch lights on.
- Set up a meeting place in case you get separated from your group.
- Talk to your children about the 9-1-1 system and how to dial the number in the event of an emergency.
- Parents, after you are done collecting candy, please inspect the candy before allowing the children to eat it. If you find opened candy, discard it.
- Discard any type of treat that looks suspicious.
- As you may have noticed, Fentanyl pills are being produced in different colors, and some dealers have attempted to smuggle these pills in candy packaging.
- Although we don’t believe children are the target of these smugglers, we want you to remain diligent to ensure these illicit products have not accidently been mixed in with your children’s candy.
Adults Planning to Party / Drivers
- Decide before going out whether you plan to drink or drive. You can’t do both.
- If you plan to drink, designate a sober driver, take a cab, ride-share or use public transit. Anything that doesn’t involve you getting behind the wheel.
- Party hosts: Offer non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers and don’t allow anyone who may be impaired to leave.
- There will be many kids out and about dressed up in costumes. This is another reason to slow down and be extra cautious. Obey all traffic signs and signals!
- Avoid driving through residential areas where trick-or-treaters are likely to be.
- Watch for children in costumes that may be harder to see at night. Look out for trick-or-treaters who may cross the street mid-block, or from behind parked cars.
Halloween is a night child predators are looking for victims. Prior to going out, talk to your children about strangers. Instruct them to NEVER get into a stranger’s vehicle under any circumstance. If someone stops and asks your child for help or tries to lure your child into their vehicle, tell them to scream as loud as they can and run.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wants everyone to have a fun, safe and most importantly, have a Happy Halloween!
