News Profile

Update from Campus Partners 9/21/09

University District Organization
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Contents:
Neighborhood Safety Academy on October 8
University contributes to city's bulk refuse collection
Report from University Area Safety Committee
Police arrest man for indecent exposure


Neighborhood Safety Academy on October 8

College students, residents and other stakeholders in the University District are encouraged to attend the Neighborhood Safety Academy on Thursday, October 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Northside Neighborhood Pride Center (Neighborhood Policing Center), 248 East 11th Avenue. Presentations will focus on personal and property safety. Free smoke alarms will be given away while supplies last. The Columbus divisions of Police and Fire and Ohio State's Department of Public Safety will participate. For information, call the Neighborhood Pride Center at (614) 724-1900.

University contributes to city's bulk refuse collection

The 13th annual special collection of bulk refuse in the University District got off to a slow start last month. Although 11 drop-off sites had been designated, refuse quickly piled up in alleys and along curbs as thousands of students moved out of their apartments. The Columbus Public Service Department cited the city's budget problems for a lack of resources to deal with the bulk trash as it had been dealt with in the recent past.

Ian MacConnell, president of the University Area Commission, took a leading role in emphasizing the seriousness of the situation with the city and university officials. Many residents also were quite upset by the piles of refuse. Public safety officials expressed concern that the refuse could become fuel for arsonists during the first two home football games.

With leadership from Dawn Tyler Lee, assistant vice president for outreach and engagement at Ohio State, the university in early September agreed to make a one-time grant of $50,000 to the city to pay for staff overtime and related costs to remove bulk refuse as quickly as possible. In response, the city's Refuse Collection Division instituted overtime in advance of the first two football games. While some refuse "hot spots" pop up as students move in, in general the alleys and curbs have returned to normal. With the $50,000 grant, the city also has pledged to send refuse trucks into the area on Friday and Saturday morning in advance of home football games and to service High Street litter containers on Sunday for the rest of the season.

The University District Public Service Committee will discuss with city, university and neighborhood representatives this fall the level of refuse services needed in the University District. The committee then will work with other University District stakeholders to request that the city administration and City Council allocate sufficient resources to the Refuse Collection Division to meet the demonstrated need. The next meeting of the University District Public Service Committee will be Monday, September 29, at 1 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High Street.

Report from University Area Safety Committee

Columbus Police Lt. Rod Wittich recounted the Labor Day shoot-out on North Fourth Street during the meeting of the University Area Safety Committee on September 9. Two officers were wounded. The assailant, who fired numerous rounds from his apartment at 1919 N. Fourth Street, appears to have committed suicide. Lt. Wittich emphasized that the situation didn't involve anyone associated with Ohio State. He credited police officers with controlling the situation and minimizing the threat to the public.

University Police Chief Paul Denton reported that the University Police Department and the Columbus Division of Police will cooperate again this fall in a crime interdiction effort on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The interdiction will involve saturation patrols targeting particular crime situations based on crime patterns. He also said that University and Columbus Police are continue the joint patrol which teams a University Police officer and a Columbus police in a specially marked vehicle.

For a more complete summary of the committee meeting, visit http://campuspartners.osu.edu/index.php/community-updates/archives/127-report-from-university-area-safety-committee.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the University Area Safety Committee will be Wednesday, October 14, at 3:30 p.m. in the conference room of 33 West 11th Avenue.

Police arrest man for voyeurism

Columbus police officers on September 16 arrested Charles Holcomb, 45, a registered sex offender, for looking into a ground floor apartment window and exposing himself in the 100 block of East Norwich Avenue. Mr. Holcomb was charged with two counts of voyeurism, two counts of trespassing, two counts of public indecency and one count of possession of criminal tools.

According to police records, officers were initially dispatched to the area of Norwich and Waldeck avenues after a report of a man looking in windows and exposing himself. Officers circulated through the area, but they were unable to locate the suspect. Officer Mike Chapman, who has a reputation for catching burglars and graffiti criminals, stayed in the area. At about 11:40 p.m., Officer Chapman spotted Mr. Holcomb in the act. Uniformed officers were called in, and Mr. Holcomb was taken into custody. The witnesses from the earlier run were brought to the scene and positively identified Mr. Holcomb.

Mr. Holcomb is registered as a sex offender for crimes conducted in the Fourth Precinct for which he was convicted in 1998.


Stephen A. Sterrett, community relations director
Campus Partners
1824 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43201
work: (614) 294-7300
home: (614) 262-4586
Sterrett.1@osu.edu