Santa Clarita Valley residents got all the boos, treats and screams during the 36th annual “Haunted Jailhouse” carnival and fundraiser at the SCV Sheriff’s Station on Sunday.
The city of Santa Clarita, the SCV Sheriff’s Station, and the SCV Boys and Girls Club collaborated to bring all the fun and games for residents during the spooky season.
“Our (Boys and Girls Club) teens put on an amazing ‘Friday the 13th‘ theme for Haunted Jailhouse in the actual jail where people are kept when they are arrested and there’s nobody in there now,” said Matt Nelson, CEO of the SCV Boys and Girls Club. “But it’s a good, positive way for our kids to see, you know, get a good (opportunity to) work side by side with the sheriff’s deputies and the station and to put on a fun event.”
The teenage club members give brave attendees a good jump scare on every corner while dressed as popular horror icon, “Jason Voorhees.”
Nelson said the teens plan the haunted jailhouse, create the sets and the props, paint the backdrops and practice doing their jump scares.
“They’re (the teenage club members) learning job skills, you know, customer service, planning, communication. They got to show up on time. Just all those fun, basic skills and then put on a fun day for families,” Nelson said.
Capt. Brandon Barclay loves this event because of the opportunity to engage with the community.
“Well, it goes along the lines of community engagement, and that’s a significant part of 21st century policing,” Barclay said.
When asked what his favorite part of the event was, he said it was the families smiling.
“I’d love to see the families get out and genuinely smile and enjoy the moment, you know, as their kids dress up and have fun,” Barclay said.
Barclay also wanted to emphasize the importance of “humanizing the badge.”
“The people are the police, and the police are the community,” Barclay said, quoting a quote by Sir Robert Peel about what community policing is.
During the event, attendees could play all kinds of carnival games, including a dunk tank, get on a zipline, gain information from booths provided by the California Highway Patrol Newhall-area Office and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, grab some food from the food trucks and get their faces painted.
Viridiana Cardenas, a mother who came to support the SCV Boys and Girls Club and her daughter, said that she loved seeing the community come together and forget about the outside world.
Cardenas also thought it was awesome for the station to open its facilities to the community.
“The fact that the sheriff’s (station) has opened up their doors for the kids, for the boys and girls, and for the community, it’s an amazing thing for the kids to trust the Sheriff’s Department,” Cardenas said.
