Youth‑led Safety Task Force urges wristbands, volunteer parking and a formal threat assessment before reopening large Blythewood events

A volunteer Safety Task Force presented a five‑part plan to the Blythewood Town Council on April 27 to reduce safety risks at town‑sponsored events at Doco Meadows Park, recommending scaled operational rules when anticipated attendance is 100 people or more.

The chair, Zire Collins, told the council the recommendations apply to town‑sponsored, designated event footprints and are intended to rely on administrative enforcement of existing ordinances rather than new criminal penalties. "If there is an event that has an anticipated attendance of 100 or more individuals the following rules will apply," Collins said, outlining the task force’s focus on crowd control and youth safety.

Council members heard five prioritized proposals: using volunteer groups for parking assistance to improve traffic flow and reduce staff burden; pre‑event coordination with local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to limit post‑event spillover; online registration and colored wristbands to control entry and identify age groups; a youth supervision policy requiring minors to be accompanied by a responsible adult during event hours; and a formal event safety and threat assessment as the top priority.

Task force members said wristbands and QR check‑in are low‑cost tools to create an "invisible fence" around designated event footprints and to help officers identify juvenile visitors. "The idea of the wristbands is so that our officers on duty will be able to identify who is who should be there and who shouldn't be there," Collins said. The group proposed using multiple entry points with volunteers to avoid bottlenecks and urged a trial run before fully restoring town‑sponsored large events.

Councilors pressed the presenters on enforcement and scalability. Councilman Brock asked whether deputies could enforce municipal park rules; Master Deputy Sloan Simpson of the Richland County Sheriff's Department replied that deputies can enforce state criminal statutes such as trespass after notice but that municipal ordinances rely on town staff to initiate enforcement or trespass notices. "If someone from the town puts someone on trespass notice, then the sheriff's department can enforce the criminal statute for trespassing after notice," Simpson said, adding that off‑duty deputies carry the same authority when commissioned for town details.

Several council members raised practical concerns: how to define the event footprint for open park areas; the likelihood of people bypassing entry points; potential bottlenecks when checking QR‑based registrations; and the uneven capacity of nearby businesses to limit service after events. Councilman McKendendrick cautioned that wristbands "present some other challenges" in an open field without gates and asked whether requirements might drive attendees to watch fireworks from off‑site locations, shifting rather than eliminating risks.

Task force members acknowledged those trade‑offs and recommended a phased approach, including a trial implementation (the group suggested Movies in the Park or the Fourth of July as test opportunities) followed by an after‑action review to refine procedures. The task force also recommended that council consider budget timing — with staff noting major implementation decisions likely tied to the FY2027 budget cycle — and to involve the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses in planning and communication.

The council voted to move the Doco Meadows Park safety and threat assessment (slide number one from the presentation) into executive session under South Carolina Code 30‑4‑70 for further review with the Richland County Sheriff's Department; the council directed staff to study logistics, costs and a possible trial run before deciding whether to resume town‑sponsored large events.

What happens next: council asked staff to return with cost estimates and implementation details; the task force offered to reconvene for an after‑action report if the council approves a pilot event.