COLUMBUS, Ohio — A series of criminal events around the campus of The Ohio State University prompted 10TV to request numbers from the Columbus Division of Police on crimes happening in the University District and Olentangy West areas.
The numbers supplied to 10TV contained data for 2024 through August, so the numbers from 2022 and 2023 were condensed into that same time frame.
- Breaking and entering
- 2022: 23
- 2023: 32
- 2024: 41
- Burglary
- 2022: 82
- 2023: 116
- 2024: 90
- Criminal damaging
- 2022: 99
- 2023: 177
- 2024: 144
- Felony assaults
- 2022: 28
- 2023: 22
- 2024: 24
- Homicides
- 2022: 2
- 2023: 3
- 2024: 3
- Motor vehicle theft
- 2022: 406
- 2023: 304
- 2024: 208
- Robbery
- 2022: 56
- 2023: 42
- 2024: 40
- Theft from motor vehicle
- 2022: 144
- 2023: 210
- 2024: 142
- Weapons offenses
- 2022: 14
- 2023: 18
- 2024: 11
- Felony assault-discharging firearms into an occupied structure
- 2022: 8
- 2023: 8
- 2024: 1
The Community Crime Patrol has been working in the University District for more than 30 years with the intention of deterring crime. The concept came about after a series of assaults in late 1989 to 1990 in the area.
“Community leaders got together and came up with this idea of a block watch on steroids, if you will,” said Ellen Moore Griffin, the executive director of the Community Crime Patrol. “When I started, High Street used to have barriers on the sidewalks so people wouldn’t fall out into the streets. It was a different environment altogether.”
The people working under her put on green jackets and patrol the neighborhoods they’re assigned, including the University District, Merion Village and North Linden.
“We are basically extra eyes and ears for a lot of city agencies, including the police,” she said. “A lot of the work we do is just talking to people out on the street, giving them directions, helping them if they have car trouble. A little bit of that kind of thing goes a long way," Griffin said.
She said not only are they there to report crime and try to prevent it, but also report things like burned-out street lamps and serious code violations.
“The improvements that have been made over the last several years in housing and quality of life issues has an impact,” Griffin said.
The work of the CCP is being done on a $375,000 per year budget. On Monday night, the Columbus City Council will vote on an extra $50,000 for the CCP.
“We fought hard for this money because it will mean the difference of us being here and not being here anymore,” Griffin said. “We can’t do the same things we’re doing now on eight years ago money.”
She said they lost a lot of funding during the 2008 recession and it’s never returned at the same rate. CCP members are paid positions and 90% of the budget goes towards paying the people patrolling the streets.