As students hit the streets and downtown fills with students dressed in costumes, UNH Police Officer Jared A. Welman dons his crisply ironed, navy blue uniform and a polished badge pinned to his chest.
“This is my costume,” Welman jokes and smiles.
It’s Halloween night, a Saturday this year, and like any other weekend night, it doesn’t sit well for the UNH police.
When I arrive at Janetos House, the home of the UNH Police Department, the officers on duty prepare to head out for their nightly shifts. I am going for my ride-along with Officer Welman, on a night that is celebrated by some and dreaded, for its inherent mischief and mayhem, by others.
“Ready for tonight’s shenanigans?” snickers Sergeant Lauren Tirone.
Everyone understands the joke all too well.
UNH police routinely handle traffic accidents, fights and assaults, enforcement of alcohol and drug violations, thefts, and other less common incidents that require police service. All of these seem amplified on weekend nights, and even more on nights like Halloween.
Halloween along with Homecoming, before spring break, and move-in and move-out dates are some of the busiest times of the year for police officers says Welman. Weekends like these, which are known for their increased activity, bring UNH police out on the prowl with a sharper eye and keener ear.
According to last year’s UNH police log, there were 14 arrests made on Halloween night alone, mostly involving unlawful intoxication or possession.
“On Halloween we have more partying, more calls, and more police officers,” says Welman, on his third Halloween with the UNH Police Department.
With Officer Welman at the wheel of the cruiser and me sitting in the front passenger seat, we head out in the marked police cruiser under a waxing Halloween moon.
We are patrolling the streets, observing the traffic and snidely commenting on the costumed crowds. We see everything from bulky cartoon characters to scantily clad Playboy bunnies.
Welman shakes his head, remarking congenially, “Halloween isn’t much different from any other weekend night, but in costumes.”
Our first call of the night is for a crowd of Halloween partiers who are clustered in the lobby of Stoke. As Welman steps into the lobby, his mere presence causes a few individuals to trickle out through the doors. When the other people do not disperse, Welman raises his voice and herds them outside the dorm.
Leaving Stoke, we patrol the streets and sit by Mills, on the lookout for potential traffic violations. A passerby approaches Welman’s window and inform us that there is a young male passed out on the stairs below Huddleston. We are led to him and sure enough, we find a young male lying flat out on his back on the stairs between Huddleston and Fairchild Hall.
He is fairly conscious though his speech is slurred and it’s not certain whether he fell and hit his head or not. An ambulance is called to the scene within seconds, and the man is taken away to the hospital on a stretcher. He is also given a court date for unlawful intoxication.
There are two other similar calls during the night, one at the Quad and one at Gables A tower. These situations are what police call “mutual aid”, which Welman stands by while medics rush to the scene to determine whether the subject is fit to be arrested or must first be taken to a nearby hospital. Police officers have probable cause for arrest if someone shows at least two signs of intoxication and pose a danger to themselves and others.
“We’re not just out here to bust people,” Welman says. “We’re out making sure people are safe. I’m a servant. I have a duty to care, they call it.”
Around 11:35 p.m. Welman receives the call from dispatch that a male UNH student has been brutally assaulted by three other unidentified males and is leaving the scene. Police officers, including Welman, manage to catch up with the victim at H-lot. He is sitting on the sidewalk and his face is bloodied and badly bruised. The police are questioning the student and trying to determine where exactly the assault took place.
According to Welman, if the student was attacked on campus, the UNH police would take the case. However, if the student was attacked anywhere beyond their precinct, the Durham police would take over. While police officers try to sort out the situation, an ambulance arrives and the student is taken to a local hospital.
The average response time for UNH Police is between 30 seconds to two minutes. Tonight there nonstop calls.
“I quit. I quit. I quit,” dispatcher Nicole Furlong jokingly gripes, as she juggles calls. Furlong dispatched three McGregor ambulances, one from Dover and one from Newmarket. “I would say this is the busiest night I’ve had all year,” she said.
Between the early morning hours of one and three is when activity peaks, Welman says.
While slowly moving through the masses that block Strafford Avenue, an open beer can somersaults in the headlights of the cruiser and onto the street. Welman immediately reacts, flips on his swirling blue lights and catches the perpetrator’s stunned face in the stark headlights.
The underage thrower of the can is arrested for unlawful littering and unlawful possession of alcohol.
The student is cuffed and placed into the backseat. Welman drives him to the bail commissioner’s office in Rice House, next door to Janetos House, to be booked.
We drop him off and head back out. Where Welman would normally conduct the booking process of the arrest himself, he explains that the extra staff employed on these busy weekend nights helps spread the load so officers can quickly get back on the streets.
By 3 a.m. only weary stragglers are skulking the streets back to their dorms and on-campus apartments. The Halloween hype has passed for this year, the night is drawing to a close, and so is my ride-along with Officer Welman. The cruiser smoothly glides into its parking spot in Janetos House where Welman and I shake hands and part ways. As I turn for my walk home, he advises me to be safe. I tell him I will be, kicking my way through beer cans, red plastic cups and the entrails of smashed pumpkins all the way home.
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