Halloween seems to “bring out a little crazy in everyone,” Oswego State University Police Lt. Robert Vaccarelli said.

A seven-year veteran of the force, Vaccarelli recalled that Halloween weekends are typically the most active time for University Police, followed by the first weekend of the semester in the fall and the day of Bridge Street Run. Vaccarelli said he believes this time of year seems to lend itself to increased “rowdiness” and an uptick in parties, which in turn leads to students drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

Despite the common perception of mischief on Halloween, a two-hour ride-along on Monday evening revealed almost no violations on campus. A couple visits to residence halls for students allegedly smoking marijuana and the odd traffic stop for excessive speed were the only activities for another officer, Kevin Ermann. However, even with the holiday atmosphere, Monday nights are normally pretty quiet on campus, Ermann said. Fridays and Saturdays are usually the busier nights for the department.

Saturday, was particularly active, Vaccarelli recalled. He said officers they were going “call to call” until about 4 a.m.

The most common violations were over the holiday weekend were “intox,” or intoxication, as a result of Halloween parties on campus or students returning to the halls still drunk from the bars downtown.

When asked about any reports of suspicious costumes around campus, Vaccarelli responded, “You wanna know about clowns, don’t you?”

The University Police say they have only had one report of a clown on campus and when their officers arrived on scene, they were unable to locate any individuals in clown attire.

“It’s not a crime to wear a costume,” Vaccarelli said.

As long as students are not following people or acting in a threatening manner, University Police rarely have issues with students dressing up.

When University Police is not investigating reports of suspicious odors in the residence halls, the campus officers conduct walk-throughs of the various buildings on campus, with particular attention to the student housing. These are less about patrolling a beat and more about being visible to the students.

Vaccarelli said he likes to talk with students about sports or movies so that he is not seen simply as a uniform, but as a man with the same interests as students.

“We’re not out to get anybody,” Vaccarelli said. “We do this job to help people.”

Halloween crime rates vary from state to state. One report from the Huffington Post in 2015 showed a spike in crime across the nation on Halloween night. While that may be true in big cities, that trend does not seem to have reached Oswego. All things considered, this year’s Halloween seems to have passed without too many frights.