Monday, December 31st 2018, 5:33 pm
It will be a cold New Year’s Eve, but as many as 20,000 people are expected downtown for “Opening Night.” OKC police will be drastically ramping up their efforts in order to keep everyone safe in the area.
“It’s very important for us to be seen and not be seen in some situations,” said Major Dexter Nelson.
Major Nelson says more than 100 uniformed and pain clothed officers from across the city will be downtown patrolling every event venue. That includes the officers from the motor squad, bike control, tact team, parking service techs and the bomb squad. The police helicopter will also be flying overhead.
In addition, this year the police department will be working together with the fire department at a unified command center.
Police are also asking for the public to report anything that looks suspicious.
“Things that might be suspicious to them is if they see someone carrying something large and they set it down and walk away from it,” explained Major Nelson. “Something to that effect.”
With any big downtown event, parking will be an issue and some streets will be closed. But the new streetcar will be running until 2 a.m. to offer revelers a warm way to get around.
Police also say don't bring a drone to fly over the crowd, and large bags and backpacks are discouraged.
December 31st, 2018
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