By Sandy . . . Halloween 2024 is behind us. This Halloween was same-old, same-old in some respects and something of an anomaly in others.

Once again, no children were snatched by registrants—or by anyone, apparently–as they walked the streets, and none were lured into the homes of registrants with promises of candy and then harmed.

Once again, as far as we could determine, Patch abstained from its “red dot” Halloween maps except for a handful in Illinois whose editor doesn’t seem to have gotten the facts about this. Thank you, Patch.

Once again, politicians decided to get on the “sex offender Halloween” bandwagon, like this Kentucky legislator who wants to create a state law barring registrants from participating in Halloween activities that involve children and the attorney general in Illinois who announced the importance of checking the sex offender registry before trick-or-treating.

Once again, law enforcement could take a lesson from Patch as some are still tying compliance checks of registrants with Halloween safety for trick-or-treaters, as in this example from Marion County, Tennessee, where law enforcement involved “multiple agencies” in “Operation Trick or Treat” and this one from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin where one officer is quoted as doing this “because I love making our community safe.”

The next time your local law enforcement talks about how understaffed they are, you might check to see if they are like the one that sent “more than 20 deputies” out on Halloween to be sure all registrants had their lights off.

That example is from Greene County, Missouri, where, ironically, in nearby Newton County, a traffic altercation occurred that injured a trick-or-treating three-year old—thankfully, not seriously—and killed the young adult accompanying the child.

That traffic accident was an anomaly as the individual who was killed is, as far as research has determined, the only pedestrian Halloween death this year.

Another child was involved in a car-pedestrian accident in Alabama but also escaped serious injuries, and two teenage pedestrians were injured, both non-fatally, in Colorado. No other reports of Halloween evening pedestrian-automobile accidents could be found, making this year the safest for trick-or-treaters in a long time.

Another anomaly is the last-minute avalanche of sensible articles giving factual and helpful warnings.

Some, like this one in Colorado, made it clear the focus would be drivers who chose to drink and drive. Likewise, the Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Program announced, “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving,” for their 2024 Halloween campaign.

In the 24 – 48 hours before Halloween, media outlets from California to Texas, from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Florida peppered the internet with pieces about Halloween safety for kids while trick-or-treating. With headers like, “Why cars might be the scariest thing this Halloween,” “Halloween’s biggest risk? Keeping kids safe from traffic,” and “What makes Halloween so scary? Being a pedestrian,” the primary focus was clear.

Whether this year really is an anomaly or whether it is the beginning of a break-through remains to be seen. For now, we can be thankful for the present victories.

The post Halloween, 2024–an anomoly or a new beginning? first appeared on NARSOL.