FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — As of August 15, the Florence Police Department has implemented a new detail plan for downtown safety.
It may seem quiet now, but downtown Florence recently struggled with ongoing issues and crime, specifically at night.
Joshua Meza, with the Florence Police Department, says they came up with a plan to enhance safety.
“We have opened a detail for downtown on Court Street, having some officers specially assigned to the downtown area,” Meza said.
After reports of several bar fights, two shootings and a kidnapping downtown, Florence police say they wanted to put more officers in the area to help deter any criminal behavior.
Meza says the new detail is a big part of that.
“Their responsibility is to go into restaurants, walk around and just be visible, be on the sidewalks, be out there when the bars are letting out, that way we have a visible presence,” Meza said.
Meza tells News 19, they have not had any reports of bar fights or shootings and hopes the officers’ presence continues to have a positive impact.
“It’s been pretty successful, there is no approach that is going to be foolproof, us having officers down there really helps us respond to incidents or indecent that might occur that way, we can stop it and de-escalate the situations before they escalate to where someone gets injured or hurt,” Meza said.
Meza also said, his team will continue with this plan and make changes as they see necessary to make it as effective as possible.
“It’s important to keep the community safe to make sure everyone is having a good time. We want people to go downtown and have a good time, but we don’t want people getting hurt,” Meza said.
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