AUGUSTA, Ga. ()- A new downtown safety plan is now in place.

The sheriff’s office will meet today with business leaders to hear what they think about it.

Prior to this meeting, Sheriff Brantley met with the Downtown Development Authority to strive toward building a long-term safety plan.

This plan is designed to make downtown Augusta safe, vibrant, and successful.

If you haven’t seen already, each weekend night starting at 9pm at least two deputies are assigned to every downtown block on Broad Street until 3:30am.

It consists of officers from different divisions, road patrol, investigators and more.

This is to help reduce late-night crime, thefts, and give a visible safety presence.

The colonel for the Richmond County’s Sheriff’s Office says this is to give folks the confidence to enjoy downtown again.

“Give folks the confidence that they can come back downtown and enjoy themselves. You know, bring your families and they’ll be safe. Out, out of town, visitors come into Augusta and enjoy the downtown area and know that they’ll be safe as well. And so far, it went really well. We’ve had a lot of good feedback from a lot from the community, and we run into folks down there throughout the weekend. They tell us how safe they feel and that they’re happy. They’re able to come back downtown and join the downtown area.,” said Bo Johnson.

The meeting starts at 2pm in the Auditorium of the Old Fort Discovery Building on 7th Street.