SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – City officials advised the hundreds of thousands of people who usually flock to an annual Halloween street party to stay home or go elsewhere after several episodes of violence in recent years.

Officials told would-be revelers through fliers, public service announcements and juvenile probation officers that they wouldn’t find many treats in the Castro District, home in past years to the largest Halloween happening in the San Francisco Bay area.

What they would find were hundreds of extra police officers, shuttered restaurants, stepped up sobriety checks and no bus or train service after 8:30 p.m.

“This is really a public safety decision,” said Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represents the Castro.

The festivities started decades ago as a homegrown celebration for San Francisco’s gay and lesbian community, but has drawn a scarier element in recent years. In 2002, five people were stabbed. Three years ago, someone wandered the crowds wielding a chain saw.

Last year, nine revelers were shot when a confrontation between two groups of young people erupted into gunfire, despite ramped-up security. No one has been arrested in the shooting.

“It’s absolutely eerie when you are looking around seeing people, most of them not in costume, looking each other in the eye with suspicion,” said Castro resident Betty Sullivan, who narrowly missed getting caught in last year’s gunfire.

Sullivan said she was anxious enough about what will transpire this year that she didn’t even plan to watch from her front stoop. On Tuesday, she could hear loudspeakers and sirens, part of the city’s emergency notification system, being tested from her home.

“Everybody I’ve talked to is pretty much on the same page I am, which is it needed not to happen,” she said. “I’m like, shut it down. I don’t even want to pretend it’s going to be OK.”

People should come to the Castro only if interacting with police is their idea of a good time, said Nathan Ballard, a spokesperson for Mayor Gavin Newsom. A city-financed Web site listed dozens of other events elsewhere.

To reinforce that the welcome mat has been officially rolled up, the city arranged to have probation officers throughout the area tell their young clients that going into San Francisco would be considered a probation violation.

However, more than 250 uniformed officers patrolling the area weren’t enough to keep some people from checking out their favorite Halloween haunt. A light crowd of costumed revelers wandered through the neighborhood Wednesday night, and six people were arrested for public drunkenness, said police Sgt. Steve Mannina.

Longtime resident Bob Mark said he was glad to have a quieter Halloween night at home.

“This went from being a really pleasant neighborhood event to a crazed tourist extravaganza,” Mark, 60, said Wednesday.

Jeanne Hawkins, 43, came dressed as a witch with her costumed friends despite warnings to stay away.

“It’s so sad,” said Hawkins, who had gone to the street party for the last few years. “This is world-famous, and they’re slowly chipping away at all our traditions that make San Francisco what it is.”