The holiday season has arrived in Selma and Christmas spirit isn’t the only thing on the rise.

Throughout the month of November and December, crime has traditionally seen a spike, Selma Chief of Police William T. Riley said.

To put a dent in burglaries and thefts, Riley said the department plans to beef up patrols through the holidays as a preventative measure.

“To do that, we have to work some extra hours and put some extra people on the street,” he said. “We’ve started our holiday patrol and we even have a burglary patrol and a warrant patrol as well where we are trying to serve some of the old warrants we have.”

The patrols, Riley said, will continue through New Years and will pay special attention to areas like Walmart, the Selma Mall and any other locations people might be shopping for Christmas gifts.

“We’ll be doing that until the first of January because we have to make sure the people who are shopping and visiting feel as safe as possible,” he said.

Unfortunately, Riley said, the department can’t have officers in every location. But, he said an increased presence can prevent some incidents from taking place.

“We can’t stop every crime, we haven’t found a city yet that can stop every crime,” he said. “But our goal is to have a presence to try to do what we can to decrease the chances that a crime might occur.”

Higher patrols and more officers on the streets should make a noticeable difference, Riley said. Some offenders will commit crimes no matter what, Riley added, but more officers should lead to less crimes.

“We feel very comfortable that the heavier prescence we put out there will make it safer for everyone here in Selma,” he said.

“There will always be someone that is going to commit a crime, but the goal is to put as many people out there as possible to try to prevent it.”