Here are the Sheriff’s Halloween safety tips from Riverside Sheriffs

Tips for adults

• Welcome trick-or-treaters with porch lights and exterior lights on.
• Report suspicious or criminal activity to law enforcement immediately.
• Keep dogs and other pets away from doors so children will not become frightened or injured.

Tips for motorists

• Exercise extreme caution when driving a vehicle. Be on the alert for excited children, whose vision may be obscured by masks, darting out into traffic.
• Motorists should avoid all unnecessary travel on Halloween evening, and when driving they should drive slowly and be alert.
• Many accidents occur when motorists are backing vehicles out of driveways, unaware of the presence of small children.

Trick-or-Treaters

• Tell children to be back home and designate a specific route for them to take.
• Tell children to never trick-or-treat alone. Go with at least two friends for the entire evening.
• Tell children to carry a flashlight and use it so drivers can see them and so they can see hazards in the street as well as other people.
• Tell children to cross only at street corners – never between parked cars and never diagonally across an intersection.
• Tell children to look in all directions before crossing the street and obey all traffic signals. Walk, never run, across the street, and use sidewalks, not the street, for walking.
• Tell children not accept rides from strangers.
• Tell children to not take shortcuts through backyards, alleys or parks.
• Tell children to not go inside anyone’s home. Remain on the porch/front door area at all times.

Tips for Treats

• Tell children not to eat treats until parents have inspected them.
• Do not give homemade or unwrapped treats to children.
• Discard any homemade or unwrapped treats.

Tips for Costumes

• Make sure children’s costumes are not flammable. In lieu of masks, face makeup is recommended.
• Do not permit children to use floor-length or vision-impairing costumes. Wear comfortable and safe shoes.