- - Police keep fighting a Halloween Eve 'mischief' tradition

Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY October 31, 2025 at 1:04 AM

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AUDUBON, NJ — Police in New Jersey have once again upped patrols, announced curfews and vowed to confiscate toilet paper and shaving cream from kids wandering the streets on Oct. 30 as departments around the state prepare for an annual tradition not everyone looks forward to.

The night before Halloween is widely known as Mischief Night here, although in some pockets it's also called Cabbage Night or Goosey Night.

Historically, Mischief Night is supposed to be the night of harmless pranks, but many police departments have developed plans to prevent the shenanigans. Pranks that might seem fun (possibly involving eggs, spray paint, paintball guns or shaving cream) are actually crimes, they say.

"Damaging the property of another is against the law," reads a joint statement from police in Westwood and Washington Township in Bergen County.

"A 9:00 P.M. curfew will be enforced on October 30th and 31st for the purpose of promoting public safety and reducing the possibility of property damage," says the statement that warns of "zero tolerance."

USA TODAY reached out to the chiefs of both departments but did not receive an immediate response.

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The heightened vigilance isn't without cause: Though some in New Jersey say Mischief Night activity is not as widespread as it used to be, at times, the evening has turned dangerous.

In Camden, New Jersey, Mischief Night in 1991 meant fires all over the city, just across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia. More than 130 alarms were struck as the Camden Fire Department scrambled to respond to as many as 15 structure fires at a time, according to CamdenHistory.com and DVRBS.com, websites dedicated to the city's past.

And in Detroit, Devil's Night has been marked by arsons, riots, a fatal shooting and serious property damage, according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Signs that Mischief Night may be fading

In Gloucester Township, a sprawling municipality in South Jersey, Lt. Paul Fisher told USA TODAY he thinks a combination of factors have kept the pranksters in check in recent years.

After a series of incidents involving groups of unruly teens, the township in August adopted an ordinance holding parents responsible for their kids' unlawful behavior.

Social media and homeowners' internet-enabled cameras mean kids know their neighbors probably know who's responsible for the paper in their pine trees or the streamers in the shrubs. Gloucester Township places a heavy emphasis on community policing, as well, so kids might be recognized by school resource officers or patrol officers who catch them in or just after the act.

Grayson Kushner, 7, tosses toilet paper into a tree at a 2024 event in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. TP'ing trees is a frequent prank for Mischief Night, a tradition in New Jersey and some other areas on the night before Halloween.

"A lot of times, we already know the kids so when we make contact, and see they have Silly String or toilet paper, we just talk to them and make sure they go back home," Fisher said.

Teens aren't as inclined to hop in a car together and wander neighborhoods like they did when Fisher was growing up in South Philadelphia, he added, and are more likely to hang out at home.

What's the deal, Jersey?

The mayhem might have originated in England, with the Nov. 4 eve of Guy Fawkes Day, which commemorates a failed plot to blow up Parliament.

According to a 2015 Time Magazine story, the tradition of benign pranks began sometime in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States, brought on perhaps as a way to defuse the tensions of economic devastation and the pain of war. Time cites a 1937 article in the Boston Globe describing false alarms, small fires, broken windows and fruits and vegetables being chucked about.

Mark Moran, co-creator of WeirdNJ (the name says it all), said he believes the tradition caught on especially in New Jersey because of its long history, diversity and, well, its inherent devilishness.

"I can't say for certain why it's popular here, but we have such a diverse population," said Moran, who also co-authored a book called "WeirdNJ." Different ethnic groups have made their home in the state, bringing with them their own traditions and folklore.

Moran has one more theory, too: "We have our own devil; what other state can claim that?"

Contributing: Amanda Wallace, NorthJersey.com; Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post.

Phaedra Trethan is a lifelong New Jersey resident who may have T.P.'d a few trees in her day, but any hijinks were youthful and harmless. Email her at ptrethan@usatoday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Jersey's 'Mischief Night' comes with curfews and confiscation

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