A Vicksburg police officer working a shift at Riverfront Park Sunday issued citations for having an open container of alcohol, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Sunday.

The citations came about a week after Armstrong began assigning an officer to the park in the wake of a series of Facebook posts complaining of loud music and people drinking alcohol at the park.

“I was at the park for a while, and talked with some of the officers. They told me while I was there a man got out of a car with an open container, and the officer issued him a ticket,” Armstrong said.

The chief on April 20 began assigning an officer to be at the park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., when the park closes. He said Sunday the watch commander on duty was rotating day shift officers to work the park.

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield discussed the Facebook posts Friday near the end of a meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, recommending the city install video cameras at the popular park to increase security and issuing a warning about the consequences for people who violate city regulations concerning behavior at the park.

Citing the posts, he told Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and South Ward Alderman Willis Thompson, “We need to do everything to boost security at our parks, our neighborhood parks, our parks where you have recreation.”

He said installing cameras at Riverfront Park would help police get a good look at potential problems in the park and help improve security.

Armstrong said he was familiar with the Facebook posts, which occurred over a two-week period. He printed some of the posts, but said police did not receive any calls to Vicksburg Warren 911 complaining about loud music, people drinking alcohol and cursing, or drugs at the park.

“We called 911 and talked to the supervisor who was on duty, and they had no knowledge of a call (concerning the park) at 911,” he said. “We also talked to director Chuck Tate, and he checked. We got another posting last Sunday and we checked that and couldn’t verify anything, so if it was a problem, they didn’t call it in.

“I’m not saying everything’s perfect down there, but we couldn’t see where anybody called and reported anything about the time they claimed there something going on,” he said.

He added officers had been doing “walk throughs” at the park, where they get out of their cars and walk in the area.

Armstrong agreed having cameras at the park is a good idea, adding the board has already discussed installing video cameras in the downtown area as a safety measure.

“Riverfront is a secluded park and heavily attended, a lot of people like to go down there,” he said.

“We can tie them (the cameras) all together and monitor them at the police department,” he said, “and would also be able to download it and save it for a period of time so in the event something does happen, we’ll be able to go back and review it.”

He said the city code prohibits playing amplified music and drinking alcohol at the park.

“You can’t rent those pavilions at the park like you can rent the auditorium,” he said. “We found a flyer where someone wanted to hold a crawfish boil and wanted to charge a fee. You can’t do that. We called the person and told them they couldn’t do it, and they didn’t.”

Mayfield said security at the city’s parks would get tighter.

“If you want to drink alcohol or do drugs, stay at home and do it,” he said.

“If you’re going to play loud, vulgar music or fight; drink alcohol or take drugs at a public park … you’re going to be arrested, I guarantee it. We’re going to be watching very closely, and we’re not going to tolerate people making it impossible for other people to visit those parks.”