The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office is gearing up for its annual Cops and Goblins Halloween bash, set for October 31 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Port Charlotte Town Center Mall. The agency is calling it the organization's largest community event and is still looking for businesses willing to sponsor or host a booth before the big day.
In a Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Facebook post declaring “It's the final countdown!”, the agency confirmed the date, time, and location while putting out a call for last-minute sponsors. The post notes sponsorship perks include social-media recognition, a business logo placed on event posters, and a challenge coin, and it thanks those who have already signed on. Several businesses are already locked in as what the event materials call platinum pumpkin providers, including Truly Nolen, Amaze Games, Warrior Beats, Jarrett Ford, and Soundwave Entertainment, according to an event poster attached to the sheriff's office's announcement.
The sheriff's office post states that Cops and Goblins draws 5,000 to 6,000 attendees each year, though past coverage has offered varying figures. The station's report from 2024 described it as the sheriff's office's annual trick-or-treating event, while a separate account put turnout at more than 6,000 for one year's gathering, according to YourSun. Either way, the mall setting has made the event a fixture of Port Charlotte's Halloween calendar for years.
A Tradition of Costumes, Candy, and Cop Cars
Past editions of Cops and Goblins have featured a mix of entertainment and law-enforcement displays, with YourSun reporting the event has included helicopters, bounce houses, demonstrations, and costumes alongside what the outlet described as lots and lots of candy. Candy totals have grown over the years: the sheriff's office said it collected more than one ton to give out at the 2022 event, per its own blog post titled Another Successful Cops & Goblins. By 2024, that number had climbed to more than two tons thanks to donations, WINK News reported in its coverage of the annual Cops and Goblins event.
The mall location itself has some history behind it. Back in the 2022 blog post, the sheriff's office said it planned to move the event to Port Charlotte Town Center Mall for Halloween night 2023, and an earlier WINK News announcement that year listed the event running from 5 to 8 p.m. at that same mall. This year's hours shift to the afternoon, running 2 to 5 p.m., according to the sheriff's office's latest Facebook announcement.
Businesses Still Have a Chance to Join In
With the countdown officially on, the sheriff's office post makes clear there's still room for more community partners before Halloween arrives. The invitation to become a sponsor or host a booth remains open, with the office highlighting the recognition and perks that come with signing up alongside the businesses already confirmed as platinum pumpkin providers. For a county agency that frames this as its biggest community gathering of the year, filling out that sponsor roster appears to be the final piece before deputies and goblins alike descend on the mall.
