Alabaster Police to increase presence at shopping centers during holiday season

Alabaster, Al (WBMA) — The Alabaster Police Department in increasing its presence in shopping areas across the city this holiday season. Shoppers can expect to see more uniformed and ‘plain clothed’ officers in shopping areas throughout the city.

The officers will mainly be seen in the city’s north and south promenade shopping centers on U.S. 31. Police say these areas are typically where the majority of holiday shopping is done in the city.

Along with an increase in officers shoppers will notice a new mobile command unit. The unit will be a centralized location for all emergency personnel and will help provide a quicker response time in the event of an emergency.

“Here with this mobile command center we’ll have surveillance inside of it. We have radio stations. Were able to talk communicate everything that our dispatchers can do or our dispatchers with 911 they can we have an officer that can do that here,” said Detective Andrew Rowan.

The shopping center will also see an in increase in surveillance with the department’s surveillance trailer that sits beside the mobile command unit.

The department has also partnered with near by businesses who have surveillance resources. Many frequent shoppers say they feel safer knowing extra resources are in place for safety.

“We have noticed an increase in presence but I’m so thankful. I think it just deters any criminal activity,” said Hillary Moore. “This place is very busy and there’s a lot of traffic so we feel very safe with them around,” said Jamie Parker.

While these extra layers of security are in place, it’s important to remain vigilant when shopping at stores.

Alabaster Police encourages shoppers to remain vigilant, always lock your car doors, and keep valuables out of sight.