ALTON - Alton Police Chief Jarrett Ford met with local business owners to discuss public safety measures for downtown Alton that have either been implemented, suggested, or will be implemented in the near future. He asked local business owners to help his department monitor and police their businesses and the areas just outside of them, while business owners asked Chief Ford to step up patrols in the area and enforce city ordinances more strictly.
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In a memo to City Council members, Chief Ford said some of the recent problems downtown include “noise/peace disturbances, overly intoxicated subjects, open drinking, aggressive/unruly subjects, loitering/blocking streets and sidewalks and so forth.” In addition to these problems, one business owner brought up the issue of people openly smoking cannabis outside their business or in parking lots.
Chief Ford encouraged business owners to call the police if people in or near their businesses won’t listen to them, but also emphasized he doesn’t want to “over-police” those situations or the downtown area itself.
“We don’t want to be overly-policing cannabis, but we also want to make sure that our businesses are taken care of,” Chief Ford said. “If they don’t listen to you, call us and we’ll come handle that.”
When asked what the police response would be in that situation, Chief Ford said they would first ask for compliance and “see what goes from there” - the subject’s cooperation, or lack thereof, would then determine how much to elevate the police response. He emphasized that his officers would not arrive arresting people “out of the gate,” but will always ask them to comply first.
One attendee claimed to see Alton police officers drive right by people violating city ordinances without stopping to do anything about it. Ford responded that his department can’t be everywhere all the time, because just like many local businesses, the department is under-staffed. One business owner asked if Alton officers could constantly patrol up and down the streets, but Chief Ford said other business owners have told him that level of police presence can sometimes drive customers away.
When asked if they could start enforcing the ordinances more strictly, Ford said he hesitates to do that because “if we do that, we become the bad guys of the community.” Several attendees spoke in support of ordinances being enforced more strictly anyway, so Chief Ford said a public awareness campaign would soon be underway to let people know enforcement will be more strict downtown in the near future.
Another suggestion was to have dedicated officers to monitor downtown businesses on the weekends, though Chief Ford noted the cost of that would be high due to those officers working overtime hours. It was briefly suggested that business owners could pool the funds together before Alderwoman Carolyn MacAfee suggested it be made part of the city budget or that the city use ARPA funds to help.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be a permanent thing, but to get it under control and let people know we’re not going to put up with this. We want our businesses to be safe and we want business,” MacAfee said. “I’m very disappointed in downtown. It could be a very great place to go and have fun, but I don’t go down there.”
Chief Ford said that more surveillance cameras will be installed downtown, possibly by the end of this summer, in an effort to increase surveillance without causing a financial burden for local business owners.
“I want to help. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be here,” Ford said. “One of the things that I’m trying to do … is rather than ask you guys who are already struggling for money, I went out and found $45,000 in grant money to do a camera system downtown so that I didn’t have to ask you guys for money.
“I do that because I want to help, and hopefully that gesture shows I’m putting in hard work to try and give everything I can to help both the police and downtown … all the cameras and everything will be in, I’m hoping, by the end of the summer.”
In addition to more surveillance cameras, one attendee suggested more signage be put up downtown to indicate open drinking or cannabis smoking not being allowed in certain areas, to serve as a “first warning” police and business owners can point to if people aren’t being compliant.
Chief Ford also urged bar owners to make sure their staff are properly carding patrons, and if they’re not, to “get rid of them” as they’re putting the business and the public at risk. He also warned against “overserving” alcohol to customers and encouraged bar owners and staff to “cut them off” if patrons have had too much to drink.
A full recording of the Downtown Public Safety meeting can be watched at the top of this story or on the Riverbender.com Facebook page.
Chief Ford’s memo to City Council members last month - including a list of suggestions and a list of concrete actions that have been taken or will be taken - can be read in its entirety below:
Value City Council Members-
At the recent Committee of the Whole Meeting, a good dialogue was had in regards to ongoing problems in our downtown Alton business and residential district. During the conversation, it was requested that I propose solutions to help address the ongoing issues. These problems include, but are not limited to, noise/peace disturbances, overly intoxicated subjects, open drinking, aggressive/unruly subjects, loitering/blocking streets and sidewalks and so forth.
A majority of the proposed solutions center around downtown business owners and their staff taking control of and policing the environment they create and cater to. As you read, you'll see that the Alton Police Department and its officers are more than willing to be a good partner in this venture but we cannot do this alone. This requires a close working relationship between the police department and downtown business owners and their staff. It's going to take more than just talking about it. It will require real action and long-term commitment from everyone involved. We fully support our downtown businesses and want them to financially succeed, but no business can thrive when the environment is unsafe.
Prior to the below listed ideas being implemented, I believe it's imperative to have an initial meeting with Alton Police Department members, all applicable business owners, City Council members, and Mayor Goins and staff to discuss the concerns and proposed solutions. Follow up meetings should take place periodically to discuss what does and does not work. This is the only way to achieve buy-in, ensure all voices are heard, and continually monitor the situation to make improvements.
With that said, here are solutions we can put in place to improve safety in downtown Alton:
- Business owners take responsibility for the environment they create. Owners and staff must monitor both inside the business and area immediately outside the business and any business parking lot. This is where a majority of issues occur and rarely are addressed. They create a negative perception and cause otherwise paying customers to avoid downtown businesses.
- All businesses close no later than 1 a.m. Take an active part in shutting down your business promptly at 1 a.m. and work together with officers when needed to make this a quick and smooth process.
- Ensure staff do not over serve patrons. Offer training if need be and strictly enforce not over serving.
- Consider closing down outside patio/sidewalk areas early to avoid loitering outside businesses. Many of these people are not paying customers.
- Make a concerted effort to hire managers/staff that prevent problems before they occur and dismiss employees who allow or contribute to the problems.
- Encourage management/staff to cooperate with officers and provide all requested information to assist in an investigation.
- Install and/or increase quality security cameras that monitor all areas both inside and outside the business.
- Provide surveillance camera footage to the police department in a timely manner upon request for a police investigation.
- Hire reputable security to work certain days/time.
- Ensure staff are checking IDs to prevent underage subjects from entering the business and illegally consuming alcohol. Provide on-going training with frequent reminders to staff.
- Ensure every entrance is monitored, especially after a certain time (i.e. 10 p.m.) Too many people bypass the main entrance and go through side doors and patio/garden doors to avoid carding/detection.
- Install and/or increase lighting on all sides of the business.
In addition to the above protocols, here are ideas the police department and City of Alton have and/or are in the process of implementing to help improve safety in downtown Alton:
- Major financial investment in a network of License Plate Reader and surveillance cameras to monitor downtown.
- Supplemental patrol where officers are assigned downtown to deter, prevent, and respond to observed/reported issues. This consists of a mix of foot patrol and vehicle patrol. While the police budget allows for a small amount of these saturation patrols, the idea has been previously proposed that businesses contribute to help pay for these additional police services.
- Strictly enforcing city ordinances such as open drinking, public urination, noise violations, loitering, etc.
- Periodic underage compliance checks. This is to ensure staff are abiding by the law and suggested protocols.
- Assist in the temporary closure of streets as needed, such as W. 3rd St. at State St. or W. 3rd St. at Belle St. from 10 p.m. until 1 a.m. This helps reduce traffic volume, keeps pedestrians safe, reduces loitering and noise disturbances.
- Researching process for enacting or amending an ordinance that requires businesses with a liquor license to have adequate surveillance cameras inside and outside the premises.
Many of these solutions cost businesses very little to enact. But the price we pay for not enacting them is great. They will help keep business owners, staff, customers, and downtown Alton safe, which in turn should increase business. We all want to see downtown Alton thrive and that is why it's so important to work together to implement these safety protocols. I look forward to working together with the City Council and downtown business owners.
