Crime in DeKalb usually decreases over Thanksgiving break while the large student population is out of town. In other areas, like Sycamore, the night before Thanksgiving can be the busiest night of the year.

Sergeant Bob Redel of the DeKalb Police Department said most students are gone during the week of Thanksgiving so there’s less activity.

“It’s much busier on weekends [in general],” he said.

The night before Thanksgiving in DeKalb does not see a high volume of calls, Redel said.

But while DeKalb sees a drop in criminal activity during Thanksgiving break, Sycamore tends to see an increase in DUIs the night before Thanksgiving.

Don Thomas, Sycamore’s chief of police, said the night before Thanksgiving is the busiest bar night of the year. Thanksgiving eve bar visits even beat New Year’s Eve, Thomas said.

“It’s been that way for a couple of years,” he said.

The way people celebrate the two holidays can be very different. On New Year’s Eve, people tend to have house parties or go to larger venues. New Year’s Eve can also fall on different days of the week, Thomas said.

Since the night before Thanksgiving always falls on a Wednesday, going to bars that night can become tradition, Thomas said.

The holiday is also celebrated with relatives both far and wide. Thomas said that often results in a large amount people in Sycamore.

To keep the streets safer, the Sycamore City Council passed an ordinance to allow Sycamore bars to stay open an hour later to match DeKalb bars’ closing hours. The council decided that if there were different closing hours people would be more likely to travel from one bar to another to stay out later.

The Sycamore Police Department will also have a full staff on duty the night before Thanksgiving, Thomas said.