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Charlotte-Mecklenburg police will have an increased presence uptown Saturday to help deal with larger crowds in the area because of St. Patrick’s Day festivities and a concert at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Capt. Mike Campagna said officers are accustomed to dealing with large crowds uptown because of night clubs in the area, but Saturday will just mean more people in the area at one time.
He estimated there could be between 15,000 and 20,000 people uptown during daytime hours and up to 30,000 tonight.
Among the events being held Saturday were this morning’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, a pub crawl and the P!nk concert at the arena.
Campagna said officers from CMPD’s central division will be on foot and bike patrol during the day to monitor crowds, and help keep people out of trouble. He said some uptown clubs also have hired off-duty officers to help with crowds.
CMPD said officers will be staggered during the day with up to 35 on duty at any one time until crowds leave.
“We work until the work is done,” Campagna told reporters at a lunchtime press conference.
