Mayor William Cogswell implementing King Street safety improvements

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – New safety enhancements are coming to upper King Street as part of an initiative led by Charleston Mayor William Cogswell.

“King Street is the heart of our Central Business District and for some time now things have been, I would say, problematic,” Mayor Cogswell told News 2.

Beginning on March 7^th, the City of Charleston is rolling out the Mayor’s King Street Safety Initiative to address problems known to impact that section of downtown.

“What we did is got together with the police department and the business owners up there and came up with a comprehensive plan that they were in support of to implement some of the changes that you’re seeing now,” the mayor explained.

New measures will include intensifying alcohol enforcement with police, increasing police presence with mounted and bike patrols, and conducting peak hour fire marshal inspections.

Mayor Cogswell said they will also be relocating flood lights and barricades which have become a norm for King Street on weekend nights in recent years.

 “We want it to be a place people feel comfortable with but a safe place. So, what we did is we moved the lights to some of the more problem areas, particularly some of the parking lots that are off of King Street, where people were congregating and doing things that were illegal,” Mayor Cogswell said.

The mayor said the plan also entails working with local businesses to use their security footage to assist with investigations, crack down on fake IDs, and follow occupancy limits.

“Anything that we can do. We do use scanners at our establishments, both at Uptown Social and Share House Bodega so we are able to provide any information that’s needed along those lines. We have cameras all over the place, both interior and exterior, that we’ve spoken to the mayor and his office about, you know, providing that footage when requested,” said Keith Benjamin, the owner of Uptown Hospitality Group.

Another component of the initiative is to work with Charleston City Council to establish designated areas for rideshare dop off and pick up sites.

“We want it to be a safe place, a place for people to have fun, to enjoy themselves, for businesses to thrive, for visitors and residents to feel comfortable going to. In order to do that you just need to make sure that the rules are enforced,” Mayor Cogswell shared.

While the Mayor’s King Street Safety Initiative is set to officially take effect on Thursday, the mayor said they have already started rolling out some of the changes.