Savannah officials outline intensified security, road closures and enforcement for St. Patrick’s Day festival

City officials briefed the Savannah City Council on stepped‑up security, street closures and enforcement for the multi‑day St. Patrick’s Day festival, including water barricades, expanded mutual aid and an interactive public map that will show closures and active incidents.

The briefing, delivered by Chief of Planning and Economic Development Faye DeMassimo and Sergeant Jason Pagliaro of the Savannah Police Department, outlined measures the city said are intended to reduce the risk of vehicle‑borne attacks and improve crowd management during the four‑day event. The city manager said he issued an order creating a Major Special Events Task Force to coordinate public‑safety planning.

DeMassimo said the task force — co‑chaired by her and Sgt. Jason Pagliaro — brings together city departments and external partners to clarify roles and to prepare for roughly 40 major special events the city holds each year. "Special events ... are about public safety, preparedness and our ability to respond to incidents," the city manager told council.

Sgt. Jason Pagliaro, identified as the Savannah Police Department special events planner, described specific security steps the department will deploy. "As of right now, there are no credible threats," Pagliaro said, adding that weekly threat assessments will come from federal, state and local partners including the FBI, GEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. Pagliaro said his team worked with GEMA and other partners to review the SPD operations and security plan and that recommendations from those reviews were incorporated.

Key security and operations measures described - Vehicle and…