STARKVILLE – Business owners in the Cotton District are preparing for their first weekend under new city security measures following a Saturday shooting that left one victim hospitalized.
Jacob Gordon, general manager of Bin 612, said he and his staff did not hear the gunshots that rang out shortly before midnight, but news of the violence was unsettling. He believes the new security measures will help “tremendously” in preventing future incidents.
“… Employee safety is always one of our number one concerns, and I think that’ll help a lot with the employees’ … mental state at work, just knowing that this is an action we’re taking on the streets,” Gordon told The Dispatch on Thursday.
Beginning Friday, Starkville Police Department will establish a secured perimeter around the district from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays with five controlled entry points staffed by officers and security personnel from Oxford-based company Shielded Security. Backpacks, outside alcoholic beverages and masks or other face coverings will be prohibited. Everyone entering must present a valid ID, and no one under the age of 18 will be permitted entry.
Gordon said he hopes the measures will reduce issues such as broken bottles and underage individuals bringing alcohol into the district.
“This Saturday, I was walking around the whole time inside and outside of the building, and I saw countless liquor bottles in hands – glass bottles, beer bottles, everything,” he said. “Obviously the restaurants here … we don’t sell wholesale bottles. … That does hurt the businesses for potential sales, but also … the people that I saw with liquor bottles in their hands didn’t look … over 18.”
Police Chief Mark Ballard, said during a Thursday morning press conference at SPD headquarters, that crowd-control problems Saturday, which led to more than two dozen arrests, arose after the Cotton District effectively became a “street party.” He said stricter rules on backpacks and outside alcohol should address that issue.
Attendees will receive wristbands at entry points, and anyone inside the district without one will be required to leave and re-enter through a designated access point.
Entry points will be placed along University Drive near Bin 612 and The Landing, on Maxwell Street between University Drive and Cotton Row, on Adkerson Way near The Vista and potentially on Page Avenue, depending on crowd size. Vehicle traffic will not be allowed through the area while the perimeter is in place.
“This is not a … special security event,” Ballard said during the conference. “This has still got to be a manageable safety point to where if you choose to go on a date with your significant other, there’s very little complication. It’s a balance.”
Ballard said the department is working with tenants and landlords to ensure residents returning from campus or baseball games with backpacks or coolers can access their apartments without difficulty if they must pass through the perimeter zone.
In addition, Ballard said the department’s drone unit will monitor the district each weekend, weather permitting. High-intensity lighting will be set up, at least temporarily, near Maxwell Street and Lummus Drive where crowds have recently gathered during busy weekends.
A permanent police substation will be set up adjacent to the Maxwell Street entrance. Ballard said the department has also expanded the number of security cameras in the district but did not specify how many were added.
“This is not going to be, necessarily, a magic bullet,” Mayor Lynn Spruill said during the press conference. “This is going to be our first response, and if we find that we need to do more, then we will do more. … I have every expectation that this will have … success, and we will remain vigilant and ready to do what other steps might need to be taken in order to make sure that we are a safe community and the Cotton District.”
Spruill told The Dispatch private security assistance will cost the city $25 per employee per hour. She did not have an estimate for what the service would cost for the remainder of the fiscal year, as the city’s needs may adjust over time.
The city will need to adjust the budget to accommodate the private security cost, Spruill said, but there are enough funds through attrition and employee vacancies across the city to cover it.
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