PETERSBURG, Va. β The Petersburg Police Department brought together more than half a dozen law enforcement agencies for a security and safety briefing ahead of the opening of Live Casino Petersburg.
The meeting took place Wednesday morning at the temporary casino site, where agencies were briefed by the casino's head of security and received detailed insights from Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins about challenges they faced during their casino opening.
Petersburg Police Chief Travis Christian said having input from someone with firsthand experience was invaluable.
"[They] experienced it, went through the actual same thing that we're preparing to go through," Christian explained. "He was able to give us some of the challenges that we're going to deal with as it relates to traffic concerns, overall crowds, sudden impacts as it will relate to even crime. So having those partners together today was very important to us so that we can prepare."
Christian emphasized that the casino is expected to draw 100,000 visitors per month to the city, creating impacts that will extend beyond Petersburg.
WATCH: Inside the program training Petersburg Live! Casino's future dealers
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