City of Huntington announces new safety initiative for downtown area

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. –A new safety initiative is coming to downtown Huntington.

Patrick Farrell

The Downtown Safety Initiative was announced Monday afternoon by city officials. The initiative is going to be led by the Huntington Police Department. Its goal is to improve public safety, increase visibility, and support a stronger sense of community in the downtown area.

Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell told MetroNews that people are going to be seeing a heavier police presence downtown.

“What we’re doing is a downtown patrol unit, that will put the Huntington Police Department out on foot and our bike patrols to increase their viability, there presence in our parking garages to make people feel safer,” Farrell said.

He said that safety is the number one safety concern for all mayors.

Farrell said that he wants everyone to feel safe, no matter if they live in Huntington or if they travel through downtown.

“We’re trying to build a safer downtown that kind of works for everybody, everyone that lives here, works here or invests here we want them to feel safe, we want families to feel comfortable, businesses to feel supported, and workers to feel secure going to and from work so this is all a part of that effort,” he said.

This initiative will also bring in a new police precinct to Pullman Square. Farrell said that more information will be available on the precinct at a later date.

Farrell said that the initiative was created because of the increased feedback from residents.

“We listened to the people that live here, that work here, that invests here, and they all wanted to see an increase in presence of our police department so they could feel safer. So, their feedback is what led to this effort,” he said.

It will also involve coordination between patrol officers and the Huntington Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team and partnerships with Prestera Health Services and Valley Health Systems. This effort is going to ensure that they can recognize the different between criminal behavior and personal crisis, which will help them respond accordingly to situations.