COLUMBUS, Ohio — Editor’s Note: Columbus police did not respond to any shooting calls at Milo Grogan or Mock Park from July 2021 to June 2022, or to any reports of assault at Dexter Falls Park. A previous version of this story stated there were 43 reports of a shooting at Milo Grogan, 52 reports at Mock Park and 11 assault reports at Dexter Falls Park. Additionally, police were only called to Dodge Park on two reports of a person with a gun, not 48. 10TV regrets the entirely inadvertent reporting errors.
The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department operates nearly 400 parks on a total of more than 13,000 acres.
Three of those city parks receive the most calls for service by police.
According to a data search of police records, from July 2021 to June 2022, the top three city parks with the most calls are Berliner Park off Greenlawn Avenue, Hilltonia Park and Rhodes Park off West Broad Street.
Berliner Park leads with 245 police runs, followed by Hilltonia Park with 158 and Rhodes Park with 151.
Backed by Columbus City Council, the city instituted "operation moonlight" in May of this year to help curb crime in city parks. Twenty parks were selected for police patrols.
At a cost of $2 million, the city is paying 40 officers double time for working on their normal days off to patrol parks on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with the goal to spend five to eight hours of their shifts on foot.
