CPD plans added downtown enforcement as Halloween falls on Saturday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia police are planning additional downtown enforcement for Halloween as bars prepare for larger crowds Saturday night, with the department expecting a busy evening but not necessarily one of its busiest weekends of the year.
The Columbia Police Department will bring in additional officers to work downtown on overtime, redeploy existing officers from other parts of the city and hold over shifts if needed, Assistant Chief Mark Fitzgerald told ABC 17 News in an email.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, a combination local bar managers expect to bring more people downtown.
Marlon Thompson, who works at Reign Bar, said the business is looking forward to the holiday weekend and has events planned for Saturday, including a trunk-or-treat from 4 to 7 p.m. and a costume contest.
“We got our security and everything in place and then we got law enforcement outside doing their thing. So give it up for our law enforcement out there. Make sure they on their game tomorrow,” Thompson said.
Jesse, a manager at Son of a Gun Bar, said Halloween typically brings a large crowd, with customers dressing up and going out to celebrate. The bar plans to host a costume contest and offer giveaways, including merchandise.
“It’s pretty crazy. It does get pretty busy here on Halloween. This is my first year bartending for it but I know in years past its been pretty crazy and everybody loves to dress up and come out and have a good time,” Jesse said.
She expects the Saturday holiday could put some additional strain on staff.
Managers at 9th Street Public House said they do not have major Halloween events planned but will be fully staffed, as they would be for any other Saturday night. However they added that Halloween falling during the middle of the week would be more difficult to plan for from a staffing standpoint.
Fitzgerald said the day of the week can have a greater impact on police activity than Halloween itself. He expects Saturday to be busy, particularly downtown, but said he does not anticipate crowds reaching the level of a home football game weekend.
Halloween comes during a time of year when Columbia police have historically seen elevated activity.
A CPD presentation on downtown crime trends and enforcement strategies, delivered ahead of a City Council meeting Oct. 5, showed the department received 556 calls for service in October 2025. That was the second-highest monthly total of the year, behind September's 577 calls.
October also had the most arrests of any month in 2025, with 98. July had the second-highest total, with 68.
The numbers were different in 2024. Police recorded 642 calls for service in October, the third-highest monthly total behind September's 675 and August's 651. October saw 34 arrests that year, second only to September's 41.
Fitzgerald said Halloween typically is not an especially high-volume night for police calls, unlike holidays such as the Fourth of July. While crowds can increase the department's workload, he said they are generally spread throughout the city rather than concentrated in one area.
He also said police have seen violent crime peak during the fall in several past years, but does not believe Halloween is responsible for that trend.
Fitzgerald said there is significant variation in calls, arrests and investigations from one day to the next, making it difficult to predict exactly how busy a particular night will be. Fitzgerald added the department will also have its regular swing shifts working during the evening hours when trick-or-treating activity is expected in neighborhoods.
The department's staffing plans can change depending on the day of the week and the expected crowd size. Fitzgerald said CPD can redeploy officers from elsewhere in the city and hold over shifts if additional coverage is needed.
For downtown businesses, the Saturday holiday means preparing for a busy night. For police, it means adding coverage while relying on the department's normal staffing structure to handle activity across the rest of Columbia.
