MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The intersection of a pivotal noon kick-off against #11 Oklahoma State and Halloween Weekend has the Morgantown Police Department on high alert.
“We do expect a lot of activity — the game itself — and then we expect the activity to carry on into the evening as well,” Police Chief Ed Preston said. “Because we’ll have all those people in town that are extra for the football game, plus the students, and other people coming into town for the Halloween festivities.”
Under normal circumstances, Preston said this would still be a busy weekend — considering a home conference game between two ranked opponents. But Halloween weekend adds an extra wrinkle into his staffing plans.
“We get a lot of folks from out-of-town on the weekends who are not associated with our games,” he said. “They are just associated with our night life.”
Preston said Friday, in spite of the noon kick-off, has the potential to be a very busy night for his officers — with daytime temperatures projected to top 70 on a sunny mid-Autumn day in Morgantown. The potential for rain moving in Saturday, he said, is the only thing that might dampen downtown activity that requires police work.
“We’ll be fairly busy because of the football game and the Halloween festivities, but it could also be weather dependent,” Preston said. “Weather, a lot of times, is the determining factor into the amount of pedestrian traffic that we have.”
Between the normal flow of alcohol, costumed night-life, foot and vehicle traffic, and the out-of-town visitors, Preston said the potential for a personal tragedy is extremely high.
“There’s a lot of those things going on at the same time that creates a lot of safety concerns,” he said. “Pedestrians, vehicles, distracted driving, alcohol — it’s an entire conglomeration at once.”
With so much unknown, Preston recommended men and women alike remain grouped together, use cabs and ride-sharing services, and avoid getting behind the wheel after drinking.
“If we could have a weekend where nobody gets hurt, we would be ecstatic,” he said. “That’s our number one goal for the weekend — no injuries.”