Celebrating a decade of
public safety partnership
in the University District
1995 to 2005
The City of
The success of this
partnership can be summarized as follows:
· Communication and cooperation has increased significantly among the law enforcement and public safety agencies which serve the University District.
· The relationship and cooperation between police and residents, including college students, has improved dramatically, even though excessive drinking and “celebratory riots” have strained this relationship.
· Columbus Police, University Police and the Community Crime Patrol have instituted new programs to reduce street crimes, such as the joint directed patrols against burglaries during holiday periods, and to deal more effectively with large parties, such as the joint patrols on weekend nights during autumn and spring quarters.
· The university has promoted innovative crime prevention programs among students both on and off campus, increased its funding for the Community Crime Patrol, and worked with Undergraduate Student Government and area property owners to create the Community Ambassadors program.
· Students, neighborhood and business leaders, and other stakeholders have founded new efforts, such as the University Area Crime Stoppers.
·
The mayor and the university president have
committed to building a new
The following mission statement was adopted by the committee in 1997:
·
Represent
the concerns of the citizens, associations and agencies interested in public
safety in the University District.
·
Encourage
cooperation and sharing of information among law enforcement and public safety
agencies serving the University District.
·
Discuss
public safety issues affecting the University District and recommend policies
and measures to the appropriate authorities.
·
Monitor
implementation of public safety recommendations in accordance with the University Neighborhoods Revitalization
Plan: Concept Document.
·
Promote
public understanding of safety and crime prevention and public cooperation with
law enforcement agencies, particularly in the implementation of community
policing in the University District.
·
Encourage
planning and coordination of public safety among public agencies, neighborhood
organizations and The Ohio State University for major events and activities
generated by the university, its student body and visitors.
A Decade of
Planning, Cooperation and Achievement
1995-96 –
Campus Partners led a community-based planning process to prepare the University Neighborhoods Revitalization
Plan: Concept Document, published in July 1996. The consulting team working on the plan
included experts in public safety. The
consultants met with all of the stakeholders to review existing crime
conditions and discuss ideas for greater public safety. The plan includes a chapter and
recommendations on safety and law enforcement.
March 1996 –
Federal agents and the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) arrest 46 alleged
members of the Short North Posse after a year-long investigation. They were charged with a variety of offenses,
including drug dealing, firearms violations and money laundering. Many of those arrested lived in the
September 1995 – The committee published a
bright red flyer which explained the state’s liquor laws, requirements for
parties and gatherings where liquor is served, and the penalties for underage
drinking. About 22,000 of these flyers were
distributed through the university’s residence halls, through fraternities and
sororities, by landlords, by
October 1996 – Ohio State President E.
Gordon Gee directed the provost and vice president for student affairs to
suspend any student identified as having taken part in the latest public
disturbance. The Safety Coordinating
Committee had met with police, property owners, and students, held a public
forum and a “walk and talk” event, and discouraged the sale of beer in bottles.
Spring 1997 – The University Area
Commission and property owner Richard Talbott brought
George Kelling and Catherine Coles, authors of Fixing Broken Windows, to
June 1997 – With support from the
University Area Commission, Columbus City Council adopted legislation banning
aggressive panhandling.
September 1997 – The Safety Coordinating
Committee agreed to meet on the second Wednesday of each month and adopted a
mission statement.
Autumn 1997 – The ad hoc Police and Campus Community Relations Committee was formed
in response to concerns expressed by the
November 1997 – William H. Hall, then
assistant vice president for housing, food services and event centers at
January 1998 – The committee held a half-day
planning session to focus on its mission, structure and priorities.
March 1998 – At the instigation of Sgt.
Terry Perrigo, CPD and CCP instituted the first
directed patrols to prevent burglaries during spring break when most of the students
leave the area. Campus Partners and the
university distributed burglary prevention information to students at the same
time. The drop in the number of
burglaries compared with the previous year and the arrests made are very
encouraging.
November 1998 – The city and the university
announced that University Police officers will join with CPD and CCP on
directed patrols to prevent burglaries during the holidays in December. This is the first time CPD and University
Police have implemented their mutual aid pact.
February 1999 – CPD officers arrested Carlo
Owens, a former
March 1999 – Evans Scholars and USG led
the dedication ceremonies for the first off-campus emergency telephone in
memory of Stephanie Hummer, murdered five years before. An additional six phones were installed later
in the year.
Spring 1999 – William Hall chaired a
university-city committee which planned the public safety aspects of the
African American Heritage Festival.
August 1999 – The Safety Coordinating
Committee sent a letter to all
October 1999 – Police and fire officials
were quite concerned with the number of fires set in dumpsters and
couches. Fire fighters made as many as
30 runs in one weekend to put out nuisance fires. CPF adopted a “no tolerance” policy on open
container and unruly parties. The number
of fires dropped off. Two houses on
Autumn 1999 – Steve Leffingwell,
president of Evans Scholars, and Shane Hankins of USG create a new Student
Safety Initiative Committee, which spearheaded the emergency phones and is
studying an “Adopt-A-Street” program and a “BuckEyes
Watch” program proposed by Ron Myers, president of the Council of Graduate
Students.
January 2000 – The new University District
Student Involvement Fund Program, which was directed by students with funds
from the university, approved small grants to promote a burglary prevention
campaign, to evaluate the new BuckEyes Watch program,
and to create an Adopt-A-Street program.
March 2000 – The
May 2000 – The African American Heritage
Festival drew pedestrians and auto cruising along High Street. Police officers, members of the “God Squad”
and “community friends” kept pedestrians on the sidewalks and prevented disturbances.
September 2000 – CPD, Columbus Division of
Fire and Columbus Division of Refuse Collection announced that they are working
together to combat arson in the University District. The Refuse Collection Division agreed to
remove flammable trash as soon and as often as possible. The police and fire divisions placed
undercover operatives in the area to arrest persons setting fires. Students, police officers, CCP staff and university
staff distributed 3,000 flyers throughout the neighborhood. The flyers warned of arson, burglaries and
abuse of the “blue light” emergency phones.
Autumn 2000 – The “blue light” emergency
phones are plagued with prank calls. As
the result of a threat that police would remove the phones, the arrest of
several persons for false alarms, and the installation of a plastic cover over
the phone’s call button, the problem subsided.
The Office of Student Affairs began programming late-night activities as
an alternative to excessive drinking and parties. The late-night programming expanded
considerably in the next several years.
November 2001 -- Celebratory riots occurred
in October and again after the Ohio State-Michigan game. Ohio State President “Brit” Kirwan asked Mr. Hall to investigate and sanction students
involved in the riot and requested the University Senate to expedite passage of
a revised Code of Student Conduct.
January 2001 – A subcommittee of the Safety
Coordinating Committee began the exploration of a University District Crime
Stoppers Program.
February 2001 – Vernon Baisden,
assistant vice president for public safety at
March 2001 – Eric Busch and John Kleberg
reported on the ad hoc Residential
Party Assistance Committee which they co-chaired to examine recommendations
from the Council on Student Affairs for dealing with public disturbances. They recommended police patrol teams, which
were implemented the next month. The
university’s Board of Trustees adopted revisions to the Code of Student Conduct
to apply to serious misconduct that occurs off university property.
April 2001 – The city and the university
agree to the Neighborhood Patrol, a cooperative approach to controlling
parties. For key weekends in the spring
and fall, two teams of three officers each monitored the neighborhood on foot
or on bicycles. Two CPD officers were
teamed with one University Police officer.
In addition, the Office of Student Affairs introduced the Safe Party
Program.
June 2001 – Campus Partners submitted a
plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to acquire and
renovate the 1,300 units of federally subsidized housing known as the Broad
Street Portfolio. The highest
concentration of about 500 units are in
September 2001 – The board was formed for the
new University Area Crime Stoppers Program, an affiliate of Central Ohio Crime
Stoppers. Mr. Busch was elected
president of the board.
March 2002 – As vice president of student
affairs, Mr. Hall in early 2001 convened the Off-Campus Strategies Committee to
deal specifically with celebratory riots.
Barbara Rich, assistant vice president of student affairs, recently had become
chair of that committee. She recommended
that the committee be combined with the Safety Coordinating Committee. The merger of the two committees was approved
in March. The merged committee took the
name University Area Safety Committee with Ms. Rich and Mr. Baisden
as co-chairs.
April 2002 – To promote safety and
responsibility, the Off-Campus Committee of USG issued “The House Party
Handbook,” distributed the handbook and other information through the
neighborhood, conducted neighborhood clean-up, and posted Crime Stoppers decals
on city-owned dumpsters. Despite these
efforts,
May 2002 – The city’s new noise
ordinance took effect.
September 2002 – University Police announced
two new crime prevention programs:
Autumn 2002 – CPD devoted significant
resources to capture a serial rapist who was attacking women in their homes and
apartments in the University District.
October 2002 – The Off-Campus Committee of
USG, under the direction of Rick Barga, sponsored the
first annual Safety Awareness Week.
November 2002 – Despite community and police
preparations, the worse celebratory riot yet occurred following the Ohio
State-Michigan football game.
Winter 2003 – Mayor Michael Coleman and
President Karen Holbrook convened the Task Force on Preventing Celebratory Riots,
chaired by David Andrews, dean of the
April 2003 – A house fire on
July 2003 – Three young persons were
murdered in a house they shared on
Autumn 2003 – CPD and University Police
instituted strict enforcement of open container and under-age drinking laws on
Lane Avenue and Ohio Stadium on football Saturdays. Reports were that the area had become “more
family friendly.” The Community
Ambassadors program was expanded to nine streets. Student organizations have adopted 17 streets
as part of the Adopt-A-Street program.
October 2003 – Mayor Coleman and other city
officials announced the results of CPD’s new “hot
spots” crime initiative, which included
November 2003 –
Spring 2004 – A number of agencies,
including the Columbus Division of Fire, Office of Student Affairs and nurses
from University Hospitals Burn Unit, developed the “Get Out, Stay Out: Campus
Fire Safety Campaign.” The campaign
provided educational activities and information to reach students on and off
campus. Fire division staff conducted
fire inspections, installed smoke detectors and replaced batteries in smoke
detectors at the request of any property owner or resident. At the request of USG, the Columbus Division
of Electricity replaced burned out bulbs and pruned trees to enhance the street
lighting through the neighborhood.
Off-Campus Student Services and Campus Partners widely distributed a
flyer warning of overcrowding on porches and socializing on roofs.
August 2004 – Community Properties of
Autumn 2004 – For the second year, CPD and
University Police strictly enforced open container and under-age drinking laws
along Lane Avenue and on campus on football Saturdays. Teams of staff members from the Office of
Student Affairs worked with CPD officers on key weekends. If a party appeared to be growing too large
or access to a party was too lax, then Student Affairs staff members would
approach the party’s hosts, while the police officer stayed visible in the background. The teams had good success in gaining the
cooperation of party hosts. If asked,
the police officer would be available to assist the hosts in dispersing the
party.
September 2004 – As a result of fund-raising
by fraternities and sororities and contributions from the Society of Fire
Protection Engineers and Evans Scholars, a thermal imaging camera was purchased
and placed in Fire Station 7, serving the University District. Mayor Coleman struck the first blow to
demolish a problem CPO property at
October 2004 – Mayor Coleman and President
Holbrook announced that the city and university would jointly fund construction
a new
December 2004 – Columbus City Council voted
to oppose the renewal of eight liquor licenses, including two in the University
District, for numerous liquor law violations and public safety concerns.
Winter 2005 – In response to complaints
about aggressive panhandling along High Street, CPD instituted a directed
patrol to address this problem.
Campus Partners
for Community Urban Redevelopment
(614) 294-7300 *
www.campuspartners.osu.edu