The Tuscaloosa Police Department arrested 31 people in Tuscaloosa's West Side Thursday afternoon in an attempt to fight back against increased drug crime and violence there, according to a report from the Tuscaloosa News.

The newspaper reports that 40 or more officers packed into the West Side Thursday and arrested dozens at housing complexes there.

Brent Blankley, Tuscaloosa's recently inaugurated chief of police, told the News that under his direction, TPD would do whatever is necessary to make the city safe.

The West Side has seen two fatal shootings this week, and the News reports that when police swarmed the area Thursday, they charged 31 people with 46 drug and weapon charges.

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