Local police prepare for Black Friday

November 24, 2015 4:10 pm

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

Shopper’s are not the only ones who are getting ready for their midnight shopping trip on Black Friday. Police in Cranston are also preparing for the busy night.

"We’ve had a couple of incidents at a couple of the retail establishments over the last couple of years. Especially, now that Black Friday is more popular with the people lining up fighting to get in line," says Cranston Police Lieutenant Russell Henry.

Lt. Henry says in Cranston they’re bringing on about a dozen extra officers Friday to help at shopping plaza’s and big stores that participate in Black Friday. Other cities, like Providence, are also increasing their police presence at stores like Walmart.

"Every store has it’s own unique security plan at this store. We will have police on site to help make sure the customers are having a great experience,"says Walmart’s Spokesperson Michelle Malashock.

Back in Cranston, Lt. Henry says since the Paris attacks they have discussed different security plans in case of a threat.

"We are talking about it and trying to prepare a plan so we are ready, in case some terrorist type incident happens," says Lt. Henry.

Cranston Police are advising people who are shopping at places like the Garden City shopping plaza to be aware of your surroundings.

"It’s more or less something out of the ordinary that you see that doesn’t look right. I can’t say it enough, by all means call us let us go check it out and we can see if it is something innocent or not, if it’s something we are interested in," Lt. Henry adds.