Mayor Stephen L. Reed said Montgomery will host a packed HBCU homecoming weekend and downtown fair, and described stepped‑up security measures including coordinated work with the sheriff’s office, overhead drone surveillance and metal detectors.

“By and large, Fair Go is a great — community is great about point out, hey...they’ll tip y’all,” Reed said, then described the planned security: “But then we’re adding the drones. Okay...we’re gonna have some overhead personal surveillance, and we’ll make sure that we kinda checking people out, and making sure that everybody is is safe and can have a good time. Obviously, metal detectors, you know, we’ll have some spontaneous searches of people.”

Reed and host Deer Hall said the HBCU weekend includes a series of events around Oct. 4, with Morehouse College alumni visiting, Alabama State University facing Bethune‑Cookman, a Battle of the Bands on Saturday and performances including DJ Kid Capri. The mayor said event programming begins Thursday night and noted multiple events across the city during the weekend.

Reed also highlighted recent public‑safety work in Montgomery. “We’ve confiscated over 360 guns within the city,” he said, offering the figure as a major enforcement result and thanking the police chief and officers for the work. Reed added that confiscation alone does not eliminate crime: “The crime is still with confiscating guns. Let’s do it to have guns. There’s crime that goes on. Yeah. We just gotta do better.”

On downtown attractions, Reed confirmed a Ferris wheel will be installed downtown and said organizers will pair the ride with food trucks and live music. He also warned that surveillance will extend to downtown event areas: “The eye in the sky don’t lie...the eye in the sky ain’t gonna lie down,” Reed said, using the phrase to describe camera and aerial monitoring.

Reed framed the security steps as a joint city‑county effort. “The sheriff’s department...as well as the police department team up on that,” he said, adding community cooperation is also part of the plan.

Reed offered practical guidance for attendees: “Don’t run...walk away. ... Pull your pants up,” comments aimed at reducing confrontations at crowded events. He did not provide a comprehensive security plan, written orders or legal authorizations during the conversation.

Reed also referenced city budgeting and development work in the same interview, saying staff must discuss how to implement budgets on Oct. 2 and that the city has investments and development announcements forthcoming; he did not provide line‑item budget figures in the podcast.

Details on checkpoint locations, exact numbers of security staff, surveillance contracts or whether facial recognition software will be used were not specified on the recording. Reed credited coordination among city and county agencies but did not cite ordinances, state statutes or formal council actions authorizing the described measures during the episode.