Efforts to keep a lid on unsponsored, unsanctioned Halloween street parties in Isla Vista which had become a public safety issue are being called a huge success this year.
For the fourth straight year, the number of people taking part in Isla Vista street parties showed a dramatic drop, to the point where no large crowds were reported during the four night Halloween weekend period from Friday to Monday.
The crowd dropped from an estimated 12-15,000 people in 2013 to no crowd this year. Arrests went from 225 in 2013 to just 26 this year, and citations were down by 90%.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office worked with UC Santa Barbara, UCSB’s student government, and an IV community committee on measures to discourage out of town visitors for Halloween. Steps ranged from parking restrictions in IV and Goleta to discourage out of town visitors to a students only concert to provide an alternative to parties.
