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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Park Slope Police Create Halloween Haunted House in Precinct Basement

By Leslie Albrecht | October 26, 2015 4:05pm
 Capt. Frank DiGiacomo and 78th Precinct officers spent their own time and money on the haunted house.
Park Slope Police Turn Precinct Basement into Haunted House
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PARK SLOPE — Local police want to improve their relationship with the community by scaring the heck out of them.

Officers at the 78th Precinct have turned their stationhouse's basement into a haunted house that the public is invited to visit "if they dare," officers said.

The spooky spot will be open for visitors Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 2 to 9 p.m. There's no charge to visit.

Younger kids can trick-or-treat on the precinct's main floor, and older kids and parents are invited to visit the subterranean haunted house, where an officer with a flashlight will lead them on a tour.

Those brave enough to venture into the dark, dank basement will find a graveyard scene, an executioner's chamber, and a dismembered corpse (fake) in a bathtub streaked with blood. In a touch that will hit home with Park Slope parents, there's even a nursery-themed room with ghouls in baby carriages and a sinister clown riding a tricycle.

Black lights, smoke machines, sound effects and costumed actors will enhance the spookiness factor, said Capt. Frank DiGiacomo, the precinct's commanding officer.

Halloween is DiGiacomo's favorite holiday, he told DNAinfo New York. When he was assigned to the precinct in August 2014 and found out about the 84-year-old building's unused basement, he immediately thought it would make an ideal haunted house, he said.

First DiGiacomo and several officers — all of whom donated their time — cleared several thousand pounds of water-damaged files out of the basement and shredded them. Then they turned the rooms into a chamber of horrors complete with walls painted black or blood red and black lights that give the space an eerie glow.

DiGiacomo paid for most of the props himself (others were donated or paid for by the precinct's community council). He'll use his vacation time this week to supervise the fright-fest.

"It's for the community — so they come to the command and meet the police and see them in a different way," said DiGiacomo, who will trade in his uniform for a scary costume for the event.

He wouldn't reveal which scary character he'll play — to find out, you'll have to visit the haunted house.

Visit the 78th Precinct for Halloween trick or treating and a haunted house (appropriate for older children) at 65 Sixth Ave. near Dean Street, on Oct. 28, 29 and 30 from 2 to 9 p.m.