ALTON - The Alton Police Department has again teamed with local videography company, The Unseen Stars, to reach out to the community, this time with public service announcements (PSAs).
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The first of these PSAs was released Thursday on the Alton Police Department's Facebook page and YouTube channel. It was dedicated to Halloween safety tips and featured local children and police officers – some of the latter shown in Halloween garb playing children's board games to get in the spirit of things – and Alton locations to illustrate a few basic Halloween safety guidelines.
Those guidelines include the following:
Trick or Treating in Alton takes place on both Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, between 6-8 p.m. and is opened to children 12 and under.
Children and their families are advised to only go to homes with porch lights on and are told not to go into any stranger's home.
Children are advised to use the sidewalk when one is available, and use the far left side of the street if one is not.
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Adults are advised to accompany children and travel in groups for increased safety.
Candy is advised not to be consumed until kids have returned home, so adults may inspect the candy for any dangers, which include allergies as well as more nefarious tricks.
While this was not the first idea for the PSA series the Alton Police Department is releasing with The Unseen Stars, Alton Public Information Officer Emily Hejna said it was a great seasonal start. She said the original plan for the video was taken by another local agency.
In the future, Hejna said there will be another two possible PSAs released by the department. She said those topics may come from the community itself. She asked that anyone with ideas for another topic send those ideas to the department.
Plans to make such semi-playful and informative PSAs have been in the works for more than a year, Hejna said, but funding was unavailable for it. Thanks to the community initiatives of Mustache March, however, Hejna said funding was secured and filming started. Money from that cause was given to local police departments with the intent of helping better community relations with the departments.
Above all, however, Hejna said the purpose of the video was to educate parents and children alike regarding the ins and outs of having both a happy and a safe Halloween.
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