Coronavirus News

Dallas city and county officials say no to Halloween trick-or-treating

Keep your Halloween activities at home.

Photo by F. Carter Smith

With COVID-19 surging, Dallas city and county officials are emphasizing that people need to skip the usual Halloween routine this year.

Namely, no trick-or-treating.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson co-hosted a press conference on October 28 to strongly discourage the practice.

Jenkins, who dressed in a heavy metal-style costume with long black wig for the occasion, said, "Turn the porch light off, don't give out candy, and parents should find something else fun for their kids to do."

Local officials are not allowed to do an outright ban due to restrictions from Gov. Greg Abbott.

"The governor has taken powers normally allowed to mayors and county judges working with health officials, so we can only do a few things," Jenkins said.

"But I think most families are not interested so much in knowing what is legal but interested in knowing what is safe," he said. "And there's no dispute. President Trump, the CDC, public health officials, and now the mayor and I are here, trying to push home that message. If you want to do what is safe, you will turn the light off and not do trick-or-treating this year."

The holiday comes at a time when Dallas County Health and Human Services has raised the COVID-19 risk level from orange (extreme caution) to red (stay home, stay safe), based on the increased numbers of new coronavirus cases, positive cases as a percentage of all tested, and hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19. They're all up, up, and up.

The CDC and Dallas County, the city of Dallas' contracted health authority, have determined that traditional Halloween activities may be high-risk for spreading COVID-19, particularly during colder weather.

"As it gets cold and people go inside, the incidence increases," Jenkins said.

He also pointed out the fallacy of assuming that kids are less vulnerable.

"Children over the age of 10 will get COVID-19 with the same frequency as adults," he said. "Younger children get it a little less. But we do have instances in Dallas County like the young lady at a high school who lost her life."

Dallas County is discouraging not only door-to-door trick-or-treating, but also "Trunk or Treat" events, to allow physical distance, avoid crowds, and prevent cross-contamination of wrapped candies.

"What you're trying to avoid are dozens of hands going into the same bucket, and enticing kids to get together in groups," he said. "And then encounter other groups, all breathing heavily, and not wearing surgical masks."

They offer this list of safer, alternative ways that pose a lower risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19:

Online parties/Costume contests
Car parades such as Candy Caravan at Dallas Heritage Village
Halloween movie nights
Halloween-themed meals
At-home candy scavenger hunt

holidays

Unhappy holidays

Porch pirates pilfer nearly $2B worth of Texas packages, study shows

Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages

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’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
An average household loss of $169 per year.
An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

“Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

Tips to avoid being a victim
So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.

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