By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

With clown sightings popping up all over the United States since mid-August, those sightings have oftentimes been accompanied by threats of violence.

WJEZ has been addressing this phenomenon in a three part series. The first two parts covered what could happen to a person if they decided to dress up as a clown to terrorize people and then we also talked about what happens to a person who makes a false police report threatening clown violence, as has been seen across the country. Pontiac Police Major Dan Davis addresses how to deal with a favorite Halloween costume potentially crossing the line and becoming something more.

“You’re going to see people dressed up. Through social media, you’ve seen stories from various parts of the country where clowns are the 2016 image to go with this new style of just trying to just scare the daylights out of people. So, yes, you’re going to see people dressed as clowns just like any other type of monsters in Halloween costumes. It’s not just a ‘clown’ rule – typical Halloween games and pranks are fine, but when you cross the line of violence or trespassing or any other type of criminal disorderly conduct, that’s going to be dealt with,” Davis said.