Parents Extra Vigilant On Halloween After Ridgeway Case

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) - Colorado communities have made some trick-or-treating changes in the wake of the Jessica Ridgeway case.

Residents in Ridgeway's Westminster neighborhood are still very uneasy about the entire situation. Some parents told CBS4 their children, even teens, won't be trick-or-treating without adult supervision. Some parents even armed their children with pepper spray.

There has also been heightened sense of police patrol in Colorado communities.

Among the decorations in Westminster neighborhoods are purple ribbons -- a community's reminder of Ridgeway.

"The kids aren't out as much in the neighborhood since this happened," resident and parent Martha Krech said.

Martha and Charles Krech live a few blocks from where Ridgeway was abducted. The Krech's have three children of their own who will travel in a group with a parent while trick-or-treating -- something new this year.

"I just don't feel comfortable letting them go by themselves yet," Martha Krech said.

Dad even bought his children pepper spray as an extra precaution.

"It's a little canister and shoots 10 to 15 feet. Soon after the incident I got them that and I explained to them it's not a toy, it's for defense, but don't be afraid to use it," Charles Krech said.

Westminster and Arvada police both say they will focus on neighborhood enforcement and high visibility because of the large amount of children out after dark on Halloween.

"You just don't even believe that it happened in your neighborhood. So, I definitely think it will be a little while," Martha Krech said.

Police also say it's a good time to remind parents that on top of personal safety messages, parents should remind their children about street safety, crossing roads, using sidewalks, having a costume or something that makes them visible.