In Essex Fells, treats are fine but skip the tricks, police warn

Driving through Essex Fells on Halloween morning last year, then-Sgt. Vincent Kulik was aghast at the number of trees and electric wires covered with sheets of toilet paper. "When you see that, you wonder, "What's going on with this town, that it would allow that?'" Kulik said.

Now that Kulik is chief of the borough's 12-member department, he's putting his foot down. This year, police are taking a zero-tolerance approach to Mischief Night, the traditional eve of Halloween when teenagers arm themselves with toilet paper, shaving cream, eggs and even paint balls to attack homes, cars, shrubbery and sometimes even trick-or-treaters.

"That's criminal mischief," Kulik said yesterday morning to about 200 students assembled in the gymnasium of Essex Fells Elementary School on Hawthorne Road. "Criminal mischief is actually a crime in our state."

Police don't want a repeat of previous years' pranks tonight. Kulik said he and the other officers will be out in full force tonight and tomorrow night -- on bicycle patrol and in marked and unmarked cars.

If they catch anybody making trouble, they'll take the child for a ride in the patrol car down to headquarters until his or her parents arrive. Charges may be filed, depending on whether the mischief caused property damage or injured someone.

"Just be warned," he said to the children, hoping they'll pass along the message to their older siblings. A letter also went out to parents Wednesday.

The attitude among officers in the past was to let kids have their fun -- toilet paper doesn't do much harm, Kulik said. If officers saw inappropriate behavior, they'd talk to the children and send them off with a warning. But that doesn't solve the problem and only led to pranks escalating.

Last year, 15 instances of serious property damage were reported in the borough, which covers 1.3 square miles and has about 2,000 residents, Kulik said. Two years ago, a group of trick-or-treaters between 10 and 12 years old was pummeled with eggs. Another group of juveniles was going around with paint ball guns.

Police officials in Middlesex Borough and Dunellen last year took a different tactic: They asked local stores to temporarily ban the sale of eggs, toilet paper, shaving cream and soap to juveniles in the week before Mischief Night.

Nic Corbett is a reporter with the New Jersey Local News Service. She may be reached at (908) 243-6216 or ncorbett@njlns.com.