Where to start? Permits, cops, etc.

[nintendave]

I'm looking to set up a zombie walk of my own in Huntington, WV. I don't think we'll have too many problems rounding up people (the Rocky Horror regulars will be up for it), but I'm definitely concerned about snags with the police.

Do I need to get some sort of permit to do this? I feel like I should let them know it will be going on ahead of time, it's quite a slow town and this would definitely attract the cops. I was thinking of starting at Marshall University and heading down the sidewalk of 4th Avenue, our main street of sorts. Are there laws concerning this sort of thing?

I've been wanting to have a zombie walk since I first heard about it, there isn't really any celebration of Halloween around here to speak of, so it would be awesome to get everyone together for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dizzy13]

Geez...so many potential complications! Can someone please post on this topic, I hope to start a walk of my own in Canberra, Australia. I need to know these things!

[Renaessance]

You might try contacting the local law enforcement (who might be called if people see undead things lurking around the city), or your town's Chamber of Commerce. :) Local governments often have some sort of special events councils/associations, so hopefully that'll help! :D

Cheers,
Ren

[Dizzy13]

Lol, we don't want poor citizens being shot in the head just because they look like undead ghouls :P




Dizzy 13 :twisted:

[Renaessance]

That's why it's a good idea to give the police a heads-up. That way if someone calls screaming their heads off about zombies, they can explain the situation w/o any citizens going to get their guns. :)

[eatbrains]

At least in San Francisco, law enforcement is used to this sort of thing. We have a santa mob, an bunny mob, a pee wee herman mob... Our urban iditarod was required to get a police escort but that's because it got so big that it blocked traffic for a quarter mile.

We have had the paramedics called on our zombies once, but it didn't take long for them to properly asess the situation. In general I think that if you are in a public place and you keep moving, you don't need to bother with a permit. But in a town that isn't used to weird stuff like this, I might call in to the police and say "I heard there's going to be some sort of performance art in the general downtown area at this general time".

[DJTheCrazy]

Indeed. It might even be best to get it in the paper a bit before it happens.

[Ato]

The big problem in my city is that it had the highest murder rate in the nation last year.... so people are packin' and I don't want a tragedy like that to burden me for the rest of my life.