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 perimeter protections: The city will place water‑filled barricades at the bases of ramps to River Street, along City Market and at key parade intersections, supplemented by trash and sanitation trucks and police vehicles to block vehicular access. Pagliaro said some locations will use a serpentine arrangement of water barricades with police vehicles closing remaining gaps to allow emergency access. - Mutual aid and specialized units: The Department of Public Safety will deploy 100 troopers; Chatham County Sheriff’s Office will send 50 deputies; additional regional canines, GBI bomb squads and a CST National Guard unit from Virginia will perform air‑ and chemical/radiological surveys; and SWAT quick‑reaction forces will be staged for rapid response. - Bomb and radiation sweeps: Canine teams and bomb squads will sweep the full parade route. Georgia State Patrol is providing a radiation‑detection team to sweep the route days ahead and on parade morning, Pagliaro said. - Surveillance and command: The city will use its Fusus camera system to aggregate camera feeds and body‑worn video into the Emergency Coordination Center (ECC). The ECC will show officer locations via body‑worn camera telemetry to guide rapid response. - Public information and mapping: Development Services created an interactive public map that will populate when the ECC activates; it will show parade routes, bleacher locations and road closures, and serve as an incident management tool. - Alcohol and vendors: The city is extending an open‑container area on Monday only (March 17) inside a defined footprint from MLK to Truman Parkway north to River Street and south to Victory Drive. The festival ordinance zone will continue to prohibit outdoor dispensing of alcohol from tents or street vendors; alcohol must be purchased inside licensed establishments. The Revenue Department’s alcohol compliance unit will perform random compliance checks in coordination with the Georgia Department of Revenue and will operate enforcement shifts through the event weekend.

Operations timing and logistics - ECC activation and closures: The ECC and command post will go active Friday at 4 p.m. and remain active through Tuesday at 4 a.m., with limited overnight staffing gaps. Ramps and River Street will close Friday at 4 p.m.; overall demobilization is scheduled that Tuesday morning. - Parking and transit: City garages will offer a $25 flat rate over the weekend. The city is using geofencing to direct rideshare pickups to designated locations; the geofence will typically be active overnight (roughly 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.) on festival nights, though times will be set to avoid unintended impacts on downtown residents. The city will also coordinate with CAT and shuttle operators; one DOT shuttle on Drayton will not run on parade day. - Sanitation and cleanup: The city will place dumpsters and portable restrooms at negotiated locations; sanitation crews will follow the parade and begin cleanup immediately after units pass to return downtown to normalcy as quickly as possible.

Enforcement and crowd control details Judy Jones, director of the revenue department, said the alcohol compliance unit plans stakeholder outreach and enforcement. She outlined compliance‑check hours that will include Saturday into the early morning and operations on Sunday and Monday; bars will be required to comply with closure times set for each day. Jones said an alcohol stakeholder meeting will be held at the Coastal Georgia Center on March 2 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and that hand‑delivered notifications and a mailer to addresses near the parade footprint will be distributed ahead of the event.

Other operational notes and council concerns Council members asked about bicycle access, deputy marshals and the protective value of water barricades versus concrete barriers. Pagliaro said bicycles will be allowed for transportation if properly secured but will not be permitted through crowd‑managed areas or across the parade route once barricaded. He said the city has 30 deputy marshals and will supplement staffing with additional officers and partner agencies.

On barrier choice, city staff said water‑filled barricades were selected because they are movable without heavy equipment and allow faster reopening of streets in an emergency; staff said double‑stacking water barricades provides protection comparable to concrete when placed as planned.

What council approved and next steps There was no council vote on the event briefing. Council members thanked staff and asked that staff continue outreach to neighbors, the school district and neighborhood associations about closures and timing. City staff said updated maps and additional public briefings will be released as planning continues.

The city requested that businesses and residents review event notices, attend the stakeholder meeting, and follow the city’s public safety guidance during the festival weekend.