DeKALB | DeKalb Police and other helping law enforcement agencies are ready for whatever homecoming brings.

DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said there will be a larger police presence in the area this weekend.

“Normally with every homecoming we beef up force,” Spangler said. “We are receiving assistance from the state, county and other local police departments.”

Spangler sees the influx of people and alcohol as a cause to an increase in crime.

“There’s more people in town, more drinking, which usually leads to more crime,” he said.

Sycamore Police will be one of the departments assisting DeKalb Police this upcoming weekend.

“We always put extra staff on campus that weekend,” said Sycamore Police Sgt. Michael Anderson. “We’re ready to react to whatever comes forth.”

Besides patrolling the campus, NIU Police also help DeKalb Police around the off-campus part of DeKalb.

NIU Police Sgt. Alan Smith said they will be there to help in any way for DeKalb PD.

“We’ll continue to do what we’re doing now by expanding patrol off-campus,” Smith said. “And we’ll continue to have officers on foot. Just normal police activity.”

Like Spangler, Smith sees the large number of people in the area that weekend as a correlation to more crime.

“Any time there’s an increase with people around, there’s an increase in probability of crime, especially by Greek Row,” Smith said.

For Smith, it’s about protecting students and DeKalb residents.

“We just want people to be safe while they’re enjoying themselves,” he said.

Spangler has found recent homecoming weekends have improved regarding crime activity as opposed to previous years. Spangler cited Homecoming 2003 as an example.

“There were lots of events going on that weekend which caused a gridlock with traffic,” he said. “There was heavy traffic with bumper-to-bumper making it difficult for emergency personnel to get around town.”

Spangler said it caused problems for police to maneuver around DeKalb to prevent crimes.

After the hectic weekend, changes were made with DeKalb Police receiving assistance from more departments to help curb any unforeseen problems.

“The last three or fours years have been progressively better and manageable,” Spangler said.