Weekends are becoming safer for people enjoying a night out in Fort Worth's West 7th Street Corridor.
"The biggest thing is we just have a tremendous amount of people of here," said Max Holderby, chairman of the Fort Worth Cultural Alliance, which includes the West 7th Street Corridor.
"Lot of them are drinking, lot of cars on the street, streets are narrow, sidewalks are narrow, and it's a safety issue," Holderby said.
Now, Fort Worth police have assigned eight officers to a special West 7th Street Patrol Unit to help keep the peace and people safe.
"We get a lot of the people that start stumbling out of the bar, and once they hit the fresh air they're laying on the pavement," said Sgt. Bill Byrnes, who oversees the unit.
The special unit patrols on foot, Wednesday through Saturday nights until 3 a.m.
"Our deal is to get out there and try to prevent things from starting," Byrnes said. "A lot of it is pushing and shoving, some fights, a lot of the close proximity with people to alcohol and they start to get into each other's face, or they'll get into an argument."
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After three months, the West 7th Street Patrol Unit is making a difference.
"A lot of it since we've been out there has gone down, because of the presence that we're having out there," Byrnes said.
"I think their presence really just makes it a safer environment for everybody," Holderby said.
The area is growing so fast, Byrnes would like to add more officers to the West 7th Street Patrol Unit and have the ability to close some streets if needed.
