Hattiesburg, Mississippi – On Tuesday morning, Mayor Toby Barker was joined by Hattiesburg Police Chief Anthony Parker to announce the launch of the City’s new Safety Ambassador program with the swearing in of Chelsey Gunter and Yvette Randolph, the first two hires for this program.
To begin, the program will be focused on the downtown areas with the expansion to Midtown as the program grows.
“We strive to create a safe, clean and hospitable community where businesses, neighborhoods and residents can thrive,” said Barker. “This is especially important for our downtown area, and these two new employees will serve as extensions of both the Hattiesburg Police Department and the City of Hattiesburg by providing foot and bike patrol to deter and report unwanted activity, provide litter control and enforce parking zones and restrictions within the area. But most of all, they will provide hospitality to visitors and residents through an excellent level of customer service.”
The launch of the program is immediate, and ambassadors will cover areas from Town Square Park to North Main Street and Mobile Street to Pine Street.
Barker added, “Traditionally, the one extension of city personnel that we had on foot – out and about every day – was our parking attendant. With some transition in this position, we took the opportunity to look at best practices in other metropolitan areas to create a program that pays attention to the little details, the little things that make a thriving city succeed.”
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