BATON ROUGE — Hundreds of families got an early start on Halloween festivities Friday evening during the annual "Boo with the Blue" event hosted by the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Costumed trick-or-treaters gathered at police headquarters on Airline Highway to collect bags of candy and brave a walk through a haunted house set up for the community.

Officers and partner agencies took the opportunity to connect with local residents while promoting safety tips ahead of the Halloween weekend.

"All of my coworkers, they want to be in the community, and of course that's the people we serve," said Davin Harris with the Office of Juvenile Justice. "So we just want to make sure we are there for them."

Official trick-or-treating hours in East Baton Rouge Parish will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. To see trick-or-treating times for neighboring parishes and other Halloween events in the capital area, click here.