Police tighten security, arrest 20 at Howl
Security at the Howl continued strong this year with a prominent police presence and multiple checkpoints before entry into one of the largest Halloween parties in the state.
“It’s our busiest night of the year when it comes to arrests,” said Capt. Steve Milne of the USU Police Department.
Twenty people were arrested at the Howl this year, mostly for underage drinking, according to Milne. Alcohol is the usual reason for arrests at the Howl, and the campus police work to keep it a dry event.
“Even if you’re of age and you’ve been drinking – and even not that much – if we smell alcohol and we catch you even before or in the event, we’re going to remove you,” Milne said. “Our problem seems to be people drink a large amount of alcohol before going in.”
Though the event had about four hundred less people, the number of arrests remained close to the 2011 Howl. Last year there were 19 arrests and 6,000 attendees at the party, whereas Howl organizers gave an approximate count of 5,600 tickets sold this year.
While police focused on safety within the event, Howl volunteers had security composed of three checkpoints at the entrance. Masks, props and alcohol were not allowed inside.
Volunteer Mackenzie Stevens, a sophomore in elementary education who assisted in security, said by the time people made it through two checkpoints to her table where wristbands were put on, they were determined to keep their items.
“The people I caught were really upset, but generally they were pretty nice about it,” Stevens said. “I didn’t have any problems, and plus I had other guys helping me.”
The main item taken from attendees at the door were masks, Stevens said. Among the confiscated costume pieces were 40 pairs of handcuffs, a saucepan taken from someone in a Johnny Appleseed costume, a Barack Obama mask and a snake charmer’s basket.
Howl attendees were able to dig through garbage cans full of items confiscated upon entry after the event to find their property.
Stevens said the main problem she had was preventing people from sneaking out with their wristbands to give a friend their ticket. Occasionally she had to chase after people who walked past without getting their wristband removed. A no re-entry policy was in place throughout the night.
For Stevens and other Howl volunteers, the night did not end when 5,600 attendees were ushered out of the building. At 12:30 a.m., 30 minutes before the party was over, lights were turned on in the International Lounge of the Taggart Student Center and decorations of ripped fabric and cobwebs were pulled down. The fake tattoo booth finished its clients and closed up, people walked around looking for trash and the cleanup of months of planning and days of decorating commenced.
ASUSU Activities Director Hannah Blackburn said she felt like the night was a success. She said from her observations, there was more space to walk around and more activities to keep people moving throughout the TSC compared to previous years.
“The two biggest complaints we got last year was there were too long of lines and there wasn’t enough to do,” Blackburn said.
Stevens said the complaints she heard about crowding were from the dance in the Fieldhouse, where people were let in only as others left to keep numbers in line with fire code regulations.
Blackburn said she chose to operate the Howl on a smaller budget this year to be more efficient, providing students with three times as many activities that were smaller and operating throughout the night instead of one big concert. She said she wanted to focus on two things: atmosphere and a better environment.
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu