Hmm, I've heard about this. I think one of the big issues is that it has become some sort of tradition. A citizen started movement to change this would work best, I guess. Anything that is local government initiated, could have a bad effect.

Hi Vincent,

here are a few thoughts reading the links about Devil's night. It seems that this has been happening since the 1940's but it was harmless at that time, and then became harmful (esp. with arson appearing) in the early 1970's. Then (and despite the Angel's night), the number of fires increased again. I guess my question is first why did the youth started criminal behaviors in the 1940's and were allowed to keep going. More importantly, what happened in the early 1970's that the "mild" criminal behavior became more serious. We understand why it went down with the angel's night (interesting movement in itself). However, we have to ask again: what happened? I guess the current economical situation explained the recent increase in the number of fires. However, it'll be interesting to understand the shift in the early 1970s. I also find interesting that this phenomenon was socially accepted since the 1940s.
The broken window theory might provide some explanations (in particular social norms and conformity), but it needs to be unpacked a little.
thanks for sharing.

There no big one answer to this question but
maybe this one could be OK:
Find a good answer to this challenge :)