MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Residents can anticipate a few more cruisers and foot patrols this weekend in Morgantown.
Seven years after the infamous “I’m Shmacked” St. Patrick’s Day in Morgantown, police are prepared for another St. Patrick’s Day coinciding with the weekend and the return from WVU’s Spring Break.
“As a result, we have planned on staffing up additional officers to work in our central business district around our nighttime entertainment. We’ll have extra patrols out during the days. Weather will probably determine a lot of the activities that go on this weekend, but we will have additional officers out,” said Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston.
Though temperatures are in the high 70’s Thursday, they’re expected to drop too much cooler, seasonal numbers by Friday evening and remain that way for the weekend.
“It’s one of those things that we’ll be adjusted for, but we’ve planned for really heavy action,” Preston said.
Preston added that staffing will be contingent on some fo these factors outside of their control, but he feels confident the city can handle any potential excessive celebration of St. Patrick.
“Right now, the plan is in place that we have enough personnel available to handle all of the types of calls for service that we’ll deal with.”
Preston said he’s in regular contact with University Police and the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration in collaborative efforts. Most importantly, he said West Virginia University officials have made a big push internally to change the culture.
“There’s been a big push by the university to move away from celebrating and involving alcohol around all of the events,” Preston said. “That’s tremendous. It has helped us a lot.”
Preston also made his regular refrain, a plea to safety.
“No one should ever get a DUI here in Morgantown,” he said. “There are so many ways to get around — public transportation, taxi cabs, rideshare programs, friends, etc.”
He added: “No one should get a DUI.”