Santa Cruz residents celebrate Halloween in style

From classic horror movie costumes to sweet little princesses, Santa Cruz is one city that knows how to do Halloween.

“I love it, it’s a party,” said Santa Cruz resident Joyce Rollins.

The rainy weather certainly didn’t stop the party from continuing in downtown. While the rain may have kept some people away, others like Leslie Bebout and her family got creative – they were a school of colorful jellyfish. An umbrella acted as the head of the sea creature, and they used colors of strings as the tentacles.

“We kind of did look ahead and see that this was coming, and so the umbrella theme seem to be a good fit,” said Bebout.

Also preparing for the traffic that rainy weather can bring, the Santa Cruz Police Department was out in full force.

“This is an all hands on deck night. Everyone in the police department –from the chief on down to our newest employee –is here in some capacity,” said Deputy Chief Steve Clark.

In hopes of deterring criminal behavior, Santa Cruz police had triple fines in effect. That means if you got caught breaking the law, you could pay anywhere from $500 to $1,000 – and that’s not all.

“We brought in additional lighting, we brought in fencing, and we brought in road closures. All of those are measures for us to keep control and the area safe,” said Clark.

Safe and fun, because residents in Santa Cruz know where the party is.

“Santa Cruz is one of the funnest places to be on Halloween,” said Cindy Pierce.

Along with the100 police officers working Friday night, there were also65 private security officers to help manage the crowd.