Have new Alabama game day safety measures improved the Strip?

With the Crimson Tide more than halfway through its home schedule, Tuscaloosa's leaders say enhanced safety measures for University of Alabama football game days appear to be working.

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

This summer, Tuscaloosa police announced several steps to improve safety on the Strip, a high-traffic, three-block area just west of the UA campus that includes bars, restaurants and other retail businesses. These steps included:

• Beefed-up patrols and a new police substation in the area

• Temporary speed bumps

• New parking and towing rules

• Stricter enforcement of loitering ordinances.

"A lot of parents over the last couple of weekends have come up to me and said, 'Wow it's really nice to have all these new officers out here to make sure everybody's safe,' " said Tuscaloosa Police Department Chief Brent Blankley during the Oct. 9 installment of Tuscaloosa Talk, a podcast hosted by the city of Tuscaloosa.

Blankley, Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue Chief Randy Smith and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox discussed during the podcast how their respective departments collaborate to ensure that game days go smoothly from a public safety perspective.

Smith and Blankley said a lot of planning and preparation goes into effect before each UA home game, with every game typically drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to Tuscaloosa.

"We want to make sure that everybody enjoys game day [and] everybody enjoys the experience. The city opens its doors to have everyone here ... but again, it has to be in a safe manner," Smith said.

Smith said there are several fire and medical response teams inside the stadium on game day and on the Strip to respond to emergencies, when needed.

"We have around roughly 30 people that are working during game day from logistics, to our response teams, to our communications division ... just making sure that we provide the best services that we can to our community," Smith said.

This season, the University of Alabama Police Department added a special unit dedicated to patrolling the Strip. Blankley said the presence of more law enforcement officers in the area is having a beneficial effect.

"We've got pretty much the entire department working with anywhere from our motorcycle units, our bike units, to our officers directing traffic, officers inside the stadium, our cyber unit," Blankley said.

"Our officers work really hard to make sure everyone enjoys the game and have a safe time doing it," he said.

In another effort to enhance security on the Strip, the University of Alabama Police Department and TPD have opened a substation at 1209 University Blvd., next door to Taco Bell and across from the Publix grocery store.

Blankley said safety is a team effort and UAPD has been very helpful in assisting with arrests and patrolling the Strip.

"The Strip has a lot of college students on it and UA has been great with helping us with that. It puts more officers in one area," Blankley said.

The enhanced safety measures were announced in August, after the Jan. 15 shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris of Birmingham near the Strip. Former University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, 21, and 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis remain in jail on capital murder charges in connection with Harris' death.

Before the fatal shooting, Tuscaloosa police had expressed increasing concerns about safety on the Strip. In September 2021, the Tuscaloosa Police Department said they had noticed an increase in instances of loitering and littering, open drug use and open alcoholic beverage container violations in the area.

During the podcast episode, Maddox applauded Smith and Blankley for the hard work done by their departments this football season, both on the Strip and behind the scenes.

"If the public goes out, enjoys the ballgame then goes home safely ... we've done our jobs by really being invisible but everyone having that quiet confidence that we're there," Maddox said.

The University of Alabama has three home games left on its 2023 schedule:

• Tennessee on Saturday, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. and CBS televising;

• LSU on Nov. 4, with kickoff time and television details to be announced;

• Chattanooga on Nov. 18, with an 11 a.m. kickoff and the SEC Network televising.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How have enhanced game day safety measures affected the Strip?