Halloween is Friday, and the familiar signs of the holiday will surely be popping up throughout the South Coast college community of Isla Vista.

While there will no doubt be the traditional jack-o-lanterns and bowls of candy, there also will be a parade of costumed and boisterous college students.

Each year around Halloween, the streets of Isla Vista swell with students from UCSB, as well as schools from throughout the region, walking en masse and visiting house parties. It’s an alcohol-fueled event that has, in the past, led to hundreds of arrest — mainly for underage drinking.

“Obviously, it’s a major event that occurs year after year, so we’re gearing up for it as we have in the past,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.

The Sheriff’s Department, which will “have a significant number of our resources deployed,” will be joined by members of other law enforcement agencies in the county, including the UCSB Police Department, Brown said.

Law enforcement officers will be looking for people committing offenses including: drunk in public, drunk driving, disorderly conduct, disturbances and assaults.

Extra deputies will be out Friday and Saturday night in Isla Vista, said sheriff’s spokesman Drew Sugars.

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No estimate was available for the costs of policing the community celebration, but in past years it has exceeded $250,000.

As for Halloween falling on a Friday, “generally, it just means a larger crowd, so we have to be ready for that,” he said.

In keeping with a campaign to “keep it local”, law enforcement is discouraging people from out of the area from coming to Isla Vista for Halloween, Brown said.

He said that in most instances, those who cause trouble in the community on Halloween are not local. The majority of attendees live in the Isla Vista area and go to school there, and behave themselves, Brown said.

Brown said that he thinks this year’s turnout will be similar to past years, as the crowd can only get so big due to limited space and parking.

In addition, the National Weather Service forecast a 20-percent chance of rain Friday night in Isla Vista, and Brown said he suspects that showers would diminish the crowd.

October 30, 2008