Crowds of super heroes, wizards and other costumed figures flocked to Hillsborough Street Saturday night as students participated in the 2011 Haunted Hillsborough Hike.

The Haunted Hillsborough Hike, more commonly known as the “Hillsborough Hike,” is an event that attracts thousands of people each year. This year, the event ran from about 10 p.m . Saturday night and continued through 2 a.m . Sunday morning.

Campus Police—who assisted the Raleigh Police Department on the street—spent the evening patrolling more than just Hillsborough Street as part of security for the event.

According to Sgt . William Davis, threat assessment supervisor within the Campus Police Criminal Investigation Division, there were at least nine checkpoints set up from Dunn Avenue to Dan Allen Drive set up by 6:30 p.m . Saturday, where officers checked student and faculty identification to be sure the people coming onto campus were affiliated with the University.

“We had deputies at different locations, mainly to control vehicle traffic onto campus,” Davis said. “The goal was to leave parking open for students and faculty. We didn’t want people coming from the outside taking [parking spaces] up when we have people working and studying.”

“We didn’t want the flux coming out onto main campus for safety concerns. We checked ID’s to make sure people were affiliated with the University,” Davis said. “The campus is a big area, and we wanted to make sure it was a safe area both for people participating in the hike as well as faculty and residents.”

According to Capt . John Barnwell , deputy chief for Campus Police, the number of participants throughout the night peaked between 5,000 and 6,000 people, a bit less than in previous years—which typically reached to around 7,000 people—though he said it may have been due to the cold temperature.

“I think it went quite well. We had about half a dozen issues involving domestic related issues and regular alcohol issues, which resulted in a couple of arrests,” Barnwell said. “But with the amount of people out there [on the street], it was an overall success. There weren’t any major issues, and our students represented our University well.”

While Barnwell said he was not at liberty to say exactly how many officers were present throughout the night, he said it was enough.

“The only major issues we had were around the 2400 block of Hillsborough Street, where several of the restaurants and bars coincided with each other,” Barnwell said. “There were so many people trying to get in to this area that it impeded the flow of traffic on the sidewalk and almost flowed onto the street. We stepped in with Raleigh Police Department and helped to thin that out and get people moving. Some people weren’t able to get into those areas, but it was becoming a safety issue.”

Davis said while there may always be people who don’t follow the rules, the Hike has proven to be a worthy tradition.

“For the most part, it is typically quiet, though you’ll always have a few people who you have negative reactions with. You’ll always have the few people who will become too intoxicated and want to cause problems. But it’s not bad,” Davis said. “And as long as [the Hike] can be done in an orderly fashion, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”