While thousands of people pour into Columbia: Police are prepared

Thousands of people are rolling into Columbia this weekend to join in the University of Missouri’s homecoming festivities.

Events started Friday night and will lead up to Saturday’s game, creating busier streets, traffic jams and heightened police presence.

Police are preparing for the crowds this weekend by having 5 additional officers patrolling the downtown area.

However, they aren’t the only ones getting ready. Bars are making sure they have enough employees scheduled, hospitals have more doctors on call and taxi companies have all of their cars ready to go.

“There are a lot of cabs on the street but they still don’t have enough for everybody,” said Charles Reno, Economy cab owner.

The average number of cars a cab company has in Columbia is six. This number causes some concern to officers having to manage the crowds.

“In reality it just depends on the outcome of the game. When Mizzou wins, people are happy and less traumatized by the event,” said Sgt. Candy Cornman, Columbia Police Department.

However, a win often leads to more people out downtown celebrating and drinking.

“Underage drinking is obviously something that we deal with in the downtown unit predominantly and we will be enforcing,” said Cornman.