TAMPA, Fla. — There was a visibly stepped-up police presence in Ybor City on Friday night — the first busy weekend night there since last week's shooting that left two people dead and more than a dozen other people injured.
While the show of force might be a comfort for some visitors, not everyone sees it that way.
“It's been a week and these things I don't usually happen again, and again like that. So, I think it'll be OK,” Amna Ibrahim said, heading out for an evening of fun in Ybor City.
Of course, it's impossible to know who didn't come to Ybor after last weekend's deadly shooting, but most of those who were there said they felt safe enough.
“I don't like it when things like that happen. It's, like I said, sad, but it's not going to stop me from going back here. Because I know most of the time it's a safe area,” Peter Lear, who works in Ybor, said.
Part of that confidence may have to do with a visibly stepped-up police presence, as promised by Tampa PD on Thursday.
“Our foot patrol is up nearly 86% in Ybor from this time last year,” Chief Lee Bercaw said. “So, the officers they're working.”
This week, TPD announced plans to expand its ranks by 30 new officers thanks to a pair of federal grants worth about $3.7 million.
Clearly, not all of those would be on patrol in Ybor City, but even if they were not everyone there was convinced it would make a difference.
A few years ago, the department had just a dozen offers assigned to Ybor. Last week there were more than four times that many present and the deadly shooting still occurred.
“If people make up their mind that they're going to kill someone, that's just going to happen. Of course, there's police here and that's going to maybe scare off certain people. Other people it's not going to scare off,” Krow Downing, also visiting Ybor City on Friday, said.
The heightened police presence is expected to last a while, including Saturday night, when Chief Bercaw promised to be out pounding the pavement alongside his officers.
Earlier this week, Tampa city council members considered the idea of an age-based curfew in Ybor City, or maybe closing businesses down at an earlier hour, but ultimately they decided against it for now.