San Antonio police prepare for busy Halloween night with all substations fully staffed

With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year, San Antonio police are preparing for a busy night of parties, trick-or-treating and heavy traffic across the city.

The San Antonio Police Department said every substation will be fully staffed. Police are urging people to plan ahead, especially if alcohol will be part of their celebrations.

“We’ve seen Halloween parties going on throughout October,” SAPD’s Emily Garvin said. “So the fact that it is on a Saturday, we do want to be extra cautious because we’re sure that people are going to start earlier this week to go through their celebrations.”

SAPD call data from the past three Halloweens shows officers have responded to a wide range of incidents, including traffic stops, shootings, assaults, burglaries, noise complaints and crashes. The data included about 100 types of calls.

Each year, officers responded to more than 100 major crashes on Halloween, including 156 in 2025. Minor crashes topped 300 calls each year, and other traffic-related calls exceeded 500 annually. Assaults, burglaries and noise complaints also drew high call volumes.

In 2025, SAPD received more than 412 disturbance calls on Halloween.

Police are reminding drivers that a driving while intoxicated arrest can be costly. A first-time DWI arrest can cost up to $2,000. A second DWI offense in Texas is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a mandatory minimum of 30 days and up to a year in county jail, along with a fine of up to $4,000. A third DWI charge can become a felony and lead to prison time. Anyone planning to drink is encouraged to arrange a safe ride home before the night begins.

Police are also encouraging parents to check the sex offender registry for the ZIP code or neighborhood where their children plan to trick-or-treat. The registry lists information such as photos and risk levels for registered offenders.

“We’d strongly advise parents that if you’re gonna take your children trick-or-treating, make sure it’s a place that they are aware of, places that they’re familiar with,” Garvin said. “If you take kids to your neighborhoods, they know how to get back home in case of an emergency. If you take them to a location that they are not too familiar with or they don’t know too many people, it could be difficult for them.”

Officers will be out across the city throughout Halloween night, SAPD said.