Expect the Strip to have more University of Alabama Police Department officers

The University of Alabama Police Department has beefed up its patrols along the Strip, adding a special unit that will police the high traffic times of Wednesday through Saturday when many students flood the popular area adjacent to campus. 

The Jamea Harris homicide on Jan. 15, where then-UA basketball player Darius Miles and his friend Michael Davis were charged with capital murder, certainly figured into the university's decision to upgrade the police force and expand the force by more than 25%. Harris, a 23-year-old from Birmingham, was shot to death in the 400 block of Grace Street, a block off University Boulevard, shortly after visiting a club on the Strip.

More: Tuscaloosa police announce enhanced safety measures on the Strip for UA game days

"It did, actually," said UAPD Chief John Hooks. "We had a lot of great support from our administration and our systems office. They said they wanted us to feel fully supported and have all the tools that we needed to create a safe environment." 

The case generated intense interest nationwide, leading city and campus leaders to re-examine public safety efforts on the Strip, a three-block area just west of the UA campus that includes bars, restaurants and other retail businesses. Tuscaloosa City Police officers and UAPD officers have collaborated along the Strip for years where UA students comprise a significant part of the Strip's clientele.

UAPD will have as many as 14 officers — 11 patrol officers, plus three supervisors — patrolling the Strip and the side streets in areas that have proven to be trouble spots in the past, according to Hooks. The additional UAPD patrol officers will supplement the Tuscaloosa Police Department's presence in the area. 

University of Alabama President Stuart Bell affirmed that student safety is of utmost importance.  

"Overall, we are partnering with the city in providing those additional resources." Bell said. "We know nationally, and if you take that down to the local level, the resources for policing and providing individuals in public safety is a challenge. What we've done in working with the city is identify how we can add additional officers and additional support personnel and the city is doing the same thing." 

UAPD has moved from a force of 72 officers to 95 officers now, with the goal of reaching 105 officers. Earlier this summer, UAPD announced salary improvements designed to lure applicants: a starting salary of $65,200 for those with no prior experience and $71,240 for officers who are Alabama Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission certified with two years of law enforcement experience, along with a signing bonus and retention incentives. 

With those new officers, UAPD's unit on the Strip will enhance the law enforcement presence in the section of University Boulevard, where thousands of people can gather, especially on UA football game weekends. Officers will also patrol adjacent city blocks where past incidents have created safety issues related to crime and excessive vehicular traffic in the congested area. 

Tuscaloosa police have been battling problems along the Strip for decades , with a special Strip detail in place since the early 2000s, said Tuscaloosa Police Assistant Chief Heath Clark. 

"Beginning around 2003 or 2004, we started really having to up the number of officers we had there after the game because people were not coming to the bars anymore, they were just coming to the Strip to hang out," Clark said. "I hate it has a name like that because it implies a Bourbon Street (in New Orleans) or a Beale Street (in Memphis) or something like that. It's not. There's nothing outside to do at the Strip. We had a lot of people coming to the Strip (just to hang out) rather than going to a business down there." 

TPD and UAPD have worked together for years, especially on UA football game weekends. As the university has grown and the city has grown with it, more people have flooded the area, creating challenges for law enforcement.  

"The problem is, this doesn't just happen on game days. We do this on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, every week on a smaller scale," Clark said.  

"Getting UA to agree to come in and do some more things there as far as officer presence and being out there, especially when the large majority of those are students who are down there. I think we've worked with them pretty good on building that up, them coming in with a precinct and working on building a full-time unit (for the Strip)," Clark said. 

Hooks said that continued cooperation will be the key to enhancing safety. 

"The University of Alabama and the City of Tuscaloosa are symbiotic. We have to be on the same page. We have to work together, especially as the university continues to grow. We want all of our families to know that their kids here are in a safe place," Hooks said.  

The main goal is to make the Strip a safe place for everybody, Clark said.

"The more people you get in a congested area the more (potential) victims you have. You really run out of resources real quick when you are trying to address a lot of those problems. How do we make it safe, how do we make people who want to come down there and patronize the businesses feel safe and create the right kind of atmosphere?" Clark said. 

Part of the solution has been an effort by both UAPD and TPD to increase communication with local property owners as well as bar and restaurant owners along the Strip. Laws have been changed that will enable property owners to have vehicles towed more easily and police officers will increase foot patrols in the limited parking areas near the Strip to ensure there is no illegal activity going on in those areas. 

The increase in officers provided by UAPD will help alleviate problems TPD has with staffing, especially on the busy game-day weekends, when TPD's call volume usually doubles.  

"What we've done with UA is just trying to say, we've put a lot of resources into game day. If I've got a 116 people working on game day, it's hard for me to have a full complement of officers to answer calls, not just on campus, not just on the Strip. Our officers are snowed under on game days. They are getting run ragged," Clark said. 

UAPD's additional officers will enable TPD to better cover other parts of the city. As Clark pointed out, residents of the entire city deserve TPD coverage as much as the Strip does. UAPD's increased presence will enhance their ability to fulfill that mission.  

"We really want to create a safe environment on the Strip. One of the biggest things we've been doing to get us there is officer presence. We have developed a Strip unit headed up by Capt. Mark Grimes. The Strip unit is tasked with being down there Wednesday nights through Saturday nights from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.," Hooks said.  

Grimes will be on the Strip along with two other supervisors and the patrol officers. Between UAPD and TPD, beats have been established and officers will work those areas on foot. The beats will cover locations where problems have evolved in the past in areas immediately behind the businesses on either side of University Boulevard.  

Additionally, a UAPD substation on the Strip will be manned 24 hours a day so anyone needing help can simply walk in and find an officer. The substation is at 1209 University Blvd., next door to Taco Bell and across from the Publix grocery store. 

Hooks visited Nashville and observed how Nashville police handle the extremely large entertainment district in its  downtown area and used some of his observations to help set up UAPD's Strip unit.  

"Some of the things we are doing are mimicked after what they are doing in Nashville. They have created a palpable feeling of safety," Hooks said, adding that creating a safe environment for students and the community is the top priority of the new unit. 

One of the major areas of enforcement will be to slow down vehicular traffic and to keep as much of it away from the Strip as possible during times of high congestion. Officers will deploy temporary speed bumps, known as traffic calming devices. Working in conjunction with the city, local private property owners and business owners have an enhanced ability to have vehicles that are parked illegally towed. 

Another measure will be to strictly enforce laws related to unsafe driving, particularly what is known as exhibition driving. Exhibition driving involves drivers using city streets for racing and dangerous maneuvers, such as doughnuts and burnouts. Clark said anyone caught engaging in exhibition driving will have their vehicle impounded immediately because it poses a significant safety issue on crowded downtown streets. 

"We want it to be inhospitable for any type of criminal behavior. I want people to come and have a good time. That's why it's there. We want people to come to Tuscaloosa and feel safe, game days or any other days," Hooks said.  

Clark is eager to see the results of the new measures.

"I think we are going to create an atmosphere where people who just want to hang out won't want to come down here anymore, and the folks who want to come to Tuscaloosa to have a good meal, have a good time, go out and see a great game and enjoy Tuscaloosa for what it is are going to have a lot better time. It's going to create a better atmosphere for our permanent residents. That's the work of the city, UA, our business owners, our property owners. It's a big huge joint effort," Clark said.

Gary Cosby Jr. is the photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: The Strip will have larger presence from UAPD officers this fall