Isla Vista Halloween Street Party Kept Quiet and Tame

Halloween weekend in Isla Vista is over, and so are the concerns about massive crowds and out-of-control behavior.

Friday night was rained out and crowds stayed indoors.

Saturday night revelers didn’t materialize either.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office says this year’s crowd was far less than the tens of thousands of people that were anticipated and consisted mostly of UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College students.

Preliminary numbers show only 40 arrests and fewer than 40 citations issued over the two-day period.

Those numbers pale in comparison to last year, when more than 200 people were booked in jail and more than 250 citations were issued over a three-day period.

The Sheriff’s Office credits the rain for keeping trouble away, but also the Keep Isla Vista Safe campaign, added law enforcement officers and UCSB’s sponsored concert Friday night at the Thunderdome.

The Sheriff’s Office says it will be several weeks before the cost of this year’s Halloween operations will be determined and released.

But early estimates will likely be reduced because of the large numbers of law enforcement officers and first responders who were sent home early both nights because of smaller crowds.