Does Juvenile Crime Increase Around Halloween?

Crimes Juveniles Often Commit Around Halloween

Halloween can be a fun time for everyone—adults, teens, and children. However, it can also be a scary time as the crime rate can also increase during and around Halloween. Commonjuvenile Halloween offenses include:

• Vandalism. In Texas, vandalism is a type of criminal mischief, which refers to offenses that involve the willful destruction, defacement, or alteration of someone else’s property. From egging houses to graffitiing a business’s walls to tempering with a property at all, teens can be arrested for and charged with vandalism for any number of alleged actions.
• Theft. According to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), cars are stolen on Halloween more than on most other holidays. While the most reported car thefts occurred on New Year’s Day and President’s Day, in their 2018 report, 2,275 car thefts occurred on Halloween. Vehicle thefts as well as thefts from vehicles and homes often occur during and around Halloween as people and families are out at holiday parties or trick-or-treating.
• Underage drinking. Teens often feel like they are too old to go trick-or-treating and may attend parties instead of hanging out with their families. Unfortunately, at these parties (or elsewhere), teens may be accused of participating in underage drinking.
• Possession of drugs. During the Halloween season, teens may be charged with drug possession, which can be charged as a felony or misdemeanor depending on the amount of drugs and type of drug involved.
• Disorderly conduct. If a person is disturbing the peace, behaving recklessly or in a disruptive manner, or engaging in unruly conduct, they can be charged with disorderly conduct (see Texas Penal Code § 42.01). Teens may be charged with disorderly conduct if they use abusive or vulgar language in a public place, abuse or threaten a person in a public place, expose themselves in public, engage in a public fight, or peep into a private residence or place. Many teens can face these charges because of the crowd they are with or dares.
• Trespassing. Entering or remaining on someone else’s property without permission and with the knowledge that the entry was forbidden or received notice to vacate can be charged with trespassing. Around Halloween, teens (and adults) may trespass on property that has been rumored to be haunted or on property they intend to vandalize.
• Driving while under the influence (DWI). It is illegal to drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and teen can face DWI charges (and other alcohol-related offenses) if they drive with a blood alcohol level that meets or exceeds 0.08%.

Has Your Texas Teen Been Arrested This Halloween?

Having a child facing criminal charges can be scary and frustrating—not only because of the criminal consequences but also the impact that a conviction can have on you and your child’s life. Convictions can have a lasting impact on your child or juvenile’s rights and future. Specifically, juvenile convictions can impact a teen’s college and/or job prospects.

At The Clark Law Firm, we provide aggressive representation to juvenile offenders. We offer clients personalized legal counsel and take a client-centered approach to our cases. We handle a multitude of juvenile crimes including:

• Underage drinking
• Fake IDs
• Truancy
• Drug offenses
• Probation violations
• Underage possession of drugs or alcohol
• Juvenile vandalism
• DWI
• Sex offenses
• Criminal mischief