Naugatuck Police Department's 'Mischief Night' Message

Editor’s Note: Written by Naugatuck Police Lt. Bryan Cammarata and first appeared on the department’s Facebook page, which you can like here.

Well here it is …. The dreaded MISCHIEF NIGHT!... I know I posted about this the other day – but I thought I’d also share a post I wrote last year as well… after all - good advice is timeless...Isn’t it?!! - ENJOY !! -

(NPD Facebook Post / October 2014 - Mischief Night)

Well, we are coming up on the end of October… and that means Halloween… which means candy…. which means hyped up kids…. aaaaaand speaking of hyped up kids…. Lets talk about MISCHIEF NIGHT….

What can I say about Mischief night…. When I was a trouble making kid (weren’t we all?!!)… I used to say “I love it”….. As an adult I say “No freakin way am I letting the kids out of the house tonight!!”…. and as a cop we simply say “can I take a vacation day?”!!

…. Please know that if you are thinking about causing illegal mischief on Mischief Night… you should think again – The Naugatuck PD will be out looking for you!!.... the Naugatuck PD Will have extra patrols out and WE WILL be out enforcing the law on Mischief Night!!!

Now, we know that to some, throwing toilet paper into trees or wrapping cars up in it, throwing eggs and smashing pumpkins sound like innocent enough pranks … but these “Pranks” are destructive and can be a real pain in the you-know-what to clean… and further, at least one of those pranks can potentially be very destructive - as eggs can destroy a cars paint if it is not cleaned right away… (…More than a few pranksters have spent some time at the NPD B&B for that one!!)

Lets talk for a minuet about “The Law”…The law says you cannot deface someone’s property…(and I’m afraid my friends that throwing toilet paper qualifies as a “defacing”) ….the law also stipulates that you cannot go “un-welcome” onto someone else’s property.. .(this is what we in the business call “Trespassing”)…. The law as well covers trespassing - with the intent to deface or damage property….so as you can see, the law pretty much has all the bases covered!!

Now, traditionally the culprits on mischief night are mostly of middle- to high-school aged youths….So my suggestion is to keep those mischievous little buggers in on Thursday night …and keep a close eye on them!! This way you are not getting a call from “Officer Cranky Pants” who did not get the vacation day he put in for!!

…Okay – that’s all I’ve got for you for now - Have a great (day)...and remember – were only a phone call away if you need us!!