By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – In addition to continuing their annual tradition of beefing up security at the city’s largest shopping center, Alabaster police officers will be taking it a step further this Christmas season.

As shoppers peruse the Propst Promenade shopping center over the next several weeks, they will have a chance to stop by the Alabaster Police Department’s mobile command center to enjoy some warm holiday beverages.

While the command center is set up in front of the Promenade’s Walmart store, officers will be serving hot cocoa and hot apple cider during peak shopping hours each day.

On Nov. 16, Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney said the department had not yet finalized the times it will offer cider and cocoa, but said it likely will have extended hours during weekends.

While the command post will not offer cider and cocoa around the clock, the post will be manned at all times to assist shoppers in need of assistance.

The department has set up a command post during the Christmas shopping season every year the Promenade has been open, but this will mark the first time police will offer free beverages, Rigney said.

“We thought it would be nice to offer that as part of our community policing and outreach program,” Rigney said.

As with similar programs such as the APD’s Coffee with a Cop and National Night Out on Crime events, the goal of offering free holiday beverages is to foster a better relationship between police officers and the public, Rigney said.

“We are trying to give people an opportunity to visit with us in a laid-back, non-stressful environment,” Rigney said. “Most of the time when people see us, it’s because of a stressful situation of some kind. This is an opportunity for them to interact with us outside of that.”

On Nov. 12, the department announced it was planning to increase its presence at the Propst Promenade and South Promenade shopping centers by about 300 percent during the Christmas shopping season.

The police presence will consist of both uniformed and non-uniformed offers in vehicles and on-foot.