With shoppers expected to be out in full force Thursday night and Friday morning, local stores and law enforcement are taking extra precautions to ensure everyone has a safe experience.

“We will be out in force,” said Chief of Police Selvain McQueen.

The Columbus Police Department will have officers camped out at major retailers across town including Belk, Walmart and Leigh Mall.

Leigh Mall general manager Gail Culpepper said Leigh Mall will have security on site in addition to the CPD officers.

“We’ll have extra security,” she said. “We always do. We’ve done it every year. All during the holidays we have double staff.”

Belk general manager Larry Armstrong said he, too, will have extra security Thursday night in an effort to help maintain crowd control. During last year’s Black Friday sale, Belk’s shoe department was ransacked as people pushed through the crowd to get the deep discounts.

“We’ve taken measures to make it more controlled than last year,” Armstrong said. “We’ve relocated the shoes away from the door and we’ve relocated them to the ladies sportswear (department). This year, we’ve taken all the paper out of the shoe boxes so you don’t have as much pieces here and pieces there.”

Also, some of the shoes on sale will come in shoe boxes with the lids attached, just for the Black Friday sale, Armstrong said.

“There have been a lot of things that we have zeroed in on to improve over last year,” he said.

In years past, Armstrong said he has seen several instances on Black Friday where the crowds became a near-stampede.

“The year before it was very scary,” he said. “It was worse at the back door, really. I think the people at the back were trying to get to the front.”

Armstrong encourages people to be patient and said there is enough merchandise for everyone.

“We have plenty,” he said. “There is no need to rush up there and get that one particular thing.”

McQueen said shoppers need to exercise common sense and remember their manners.

“I would suggest that they not try to cut line,” he said. “It’s sort of like grade school, you get there and wait your turn. Treat your neighbors the way you would want to be treated because if you break the law we’re going to be out to enforce it.”

McQueen said due to the holiday season, extra officers will be working each shift from now until Christmas.

“We’ve already started and we’ll be doing this throughout the holiday season,” he said. “We’ve beefed up.”

Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.