Shreveport Police Department

PO Box P · Shreveport, LA 71161 · 318/673-6933 · Fax: 318/673-6914

www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/spdnews

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: Feb. 23, 2000

Contact: Cindy Chadwick

318/673-6932

Countdown to Mardi Gras begins!

With a little more than 72 hours to go before Centaur floats fill the streets, Shreveport Police are wrapping up security preparations for the season's first Mardi Gras parade.

In Shreveport, most streets along the parade route will close at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, for the Krewe of Centaur parade. On Saturday, March 4, they will close at 3:30 p.m. for the Krewe of Gemini parade. No pedestrian or vehicular traffic will be allowed on Shreveport-Barksdale Bridge after the roads close.

In other closings on parade day, Atlantic Avenue from Anniston to East Kings will be used for emergency vehicle traffic only and will close at 8 a.m. to all other vehicles except drivers who reside in the 100 block. Also, Preston Avenue from Knight Street to East Kings Highway will be closed all day to through traffic.

Again this year, the city will identify areas where parking will be permitted by marking a line in the grassy along Shreveport-Barksdale's parade route. Parking will be allowed behind the line beginning at 7 a.m. on parade day. Parking spaces awarded in the SPAR lottery also will be available at 7 a.m. Those who won a spot along the route must present their permit when parking.

Parking on private property along the service roads is at the discretion of the property owners. For safety reasons, no parking will be allowed on Shreveport-Barksdale Highway, the highway median or the

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asphalt shoulder of the highway. Violators risk being towed. Officers will patrol the Mardi Gras route to ensure compliance.

Handicapped parking will be available in the parking lot located at East Kings and Atlantic Avenue. Vehicles parking there must possess a handicapped parking tag.

If you need assistance from police, fire or emergency medical personnel, the City will operate a command post at Knight Street and Shreveport-Barksdale. Additional police command posts will be at Shreve City and on Shreveport-Barksdale near Haverty's Furniture. More than 100 Shreveport police officers, auxiliary and reserve officers, Caddo deputies and Wade Correctional officers will assist with law enforcement duties. Officers will be on bicycles, horseback and motorcycles.

Laws regarding consumption of alcohol by minors will be strictly enforced. Juveniles caught with alcohol will be taken into custody, charged, and detained until their parent arrives. Shreveport and Bossier City police also will be checking drivers participating in the parades to ensure they are alcohol free. Each driver operating a motorized parade entry will be required to pass an intoxilyzer test before they will be allowed onto the route. Additional testing will be conducted at random along the route.

Police Chief Jim Roberts said, "We want everyone to have a good time, but we also want them to exercise good judgment and know that Police Department will be doing all it can to maintain order."

If you attend the parades, here are some good rules to follow :

· Never leave small children unattended. Set up a predetermined meeting point in the event children are separated from you during the festivities.

· Don't take purses or wallets to the parades. If you must take money, take only a small amount and keep it in your front pocket.

· Place valuables inside your car before you leave home, or better yet, don't bring them at all. Be sure your car is locked.

· Bring only refreshments in cans or plastic bottles. No glass.

· Avoid shoving matches over throws, and keep a safe distance from floats.