Can't hold them back

Some of the Franklin Street Halloween crowd gather around a break dancing group before police cleared the street.

Chapel Hill Police officers walk down Franklin Street after clearing the crowd after midnight. DTH/Andrew Dye

 Police didn’t get the rain they hoped for Saturday night.

Drawn by mild weather and a convenient Saturday date, more than 50,000 people crowded Franklin Street for Halloween — 15,000 more than last year and five times the crowd size police hope to eventually reach.

In the second year of the “Homegrown Halloween” program meant to restrict attendance, police forewarned that out-of-town visitors would not be welcome and that the street would close at midnight.

But many non-residents still attended the celebration, and police said too many people were on the street to safely close it at midnight.

“I think we’re obviously going to reevaluate as a town,” Chapel Hill police Lt. Kevin Gunter said Saturday night.

Police successfully cleared the crowd by 12:20 a.m. Sunday, following up with a line of motorcycles, vehicles and street-sweeping machines as they did last year.

Reaction ranged from peaceful submission to disgruntled disagreement.

“What they just did was useless and comical,” said Pavel Chtcheprov, who was dressed as a transistor high-pass filter circuit, as he watched the motorcycles from the intersection of Church Street and Franklin Street.

“It’s a demonstration of power, and then everyone goes back on the street.”

Gunter said police would re-evaluate whether motorcycles are necessary for next Halloween.

Despite the restrictions, many found themselves on Franklin after midnight.

Even with the limitations, the celebration was better than last year, said Catherine Pegg, who dressed with friends as a pink-and-purple box of Nerds.

“It’s more inspired and more energetic,” she said.

Senior Kristen Peet, who dressed as someone from the 1980s, was skeptical of the town’s ability to execute plans for future Halloween celebrations on Franklin Street.

Peet said she thought that the town will not benefit after setting a limit and not enforcing it.

Despite the mixed reactions, the Franklin Street event was relatively safe.

Before the celebration closed, police arrested only one person in the barricaded area of Franklin Street for an assault, compared to five arrests last year and 13 in 2007.

Emergency Medical Services treated 22 people, 18 of which were for alcohol-related medical problems, Gunter said.

Of those, eight were sent to UNC Hospitals, he said.

A student was also stabbed at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house after the official celebration ended, police said.

Freshman Alex Willams was watching passersby with a friend at 12:15 a.m. Williams said he didn’t think the town would be successful with a strict campaign next year.

“Obviously, they didn’t have it this year,” he said.



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.