Government

The Town of Chapel Hill Special Topics sessions continue for the community with a presentation on large crowd management at noon Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Chapel Hill public safety leadership has gained attention for its unique ability to manage large crowd celebrations. Police Chief Chris Blue and Fire Chief Dan Jones will discuss some of the strategies that Chapel Hill employs to manage such large scale events.

From Halloween to NCAA basketball championships, large crowds in downtown Chapel Hill can easily soar to the tens of thousands of people. Enormous crowds confined in a congested half-mile stretch of Franklin Street can present public safety concerns related to personal and property crime, crowd panic and large scale civil disorders. Additional concerns focus on alcohol poisoning, injuries and gang-related violence.

The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Chief Blue began work with the Town of Chapel Hill in 1997. A UNC graduate who grew up in Chapel Hill, he is married with two daughters.

Chief Jones came to Chapel Hill from Florida in 1990 to become fire chief. He has 38 years of experience in the fire service, rising through the ranks. His wife and daughter are teachers, and his son-in-law is a police officer.

The Special Topics series began during the Chapel Hill 2020 comprehensive planning process as a way to share information with interested residents who want to know more about issues, trends and studies that affect the future. For past topics, see www.townofchapelhill.org/video

The public event will be aired live on Chapel Hill Government TV-18 and streamed on the Town of Chapel Hill website at www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1850. For more information about the special topic series, contact Catherine Lazorko at clazorko@townofchapelhill.org or 919-969-5055.