1. Parents should help their children pick out a costume that will be safe. The costumes should be fire resistant, masks should have eyeholes large enough to allow for good peripheral vision, and the costume should allow free movement.
2. If your child will be carrying a prop such as a pitchfork or sword make sure the tips are flexible enough to not cause injury if fallen on. Never carry real weapons of any kind.
3. If you set jack-o’-lanterns on your porch with candles in them, make sure that they are far enough out of the way so that children’s costumes will not accidentally be set on fire. Battery-operated pumpkin lights might even be a better option.
4. Make sure you know the route your children will be taking for trick-or-treating, if you are not going with them.
5. The best bet is to make sure that an adult is going with the children during trick-or-treating. If you cannot go with your child see if another parent or a teenaged sibling can.
6. Children should stay together as a group if going trick-or-treating without an adult.
7. Make sure your children carry flashlights, glow sticks or have reflective tape on their costumes to make them more visible to cars. Tell your children to only cross streets at cross walks.
8. Instruct your children never to go into the home of a stranger or get into a vehicle.
9. Make sure you set a time for your children to be home and stress the importance for them to be home at that time. And, instruct your children not to eat any treats until they bring them home to be examined by you.
To ensure the holiday is celebrated with as few incidents as possible the Dearborn Police Department will have extra officers on patrol the evenings of Oct. 30 and 31. The department will not tolerate any criminal acts such as vandalism, destruction of property or larceny, POlice Chief Ronald Haddad said.
If people observe anything suspicious or have any complaints, they should contact the police department at 313-943-3030.