Where there are people, there is crime.
Police have grown to analyze and adapt to Athens’ crime trends, but to consider one area as “dangerous” isn’t necessarily accurate, Athens City Police Chief Tom Pyle said.
Instead, “high crime areas” is a better way to describe North Court and East State streets — the two portions of the city that attract the most crime.
“It’s hard to pin down (dangerous areas),” Pyle said. “Our crime ebbs and flows in the city. … It has a lot to do with the very types of crimes.”
Athens Police have responded to six times as many calls on East State Street than the street with the second-highest amount of thefts, West Union, since September 2008, according to Athens Police Department data.
“The number of thefts on East State Street is so high because of Kroger, Wal-Mart, Tractor Supply, the larger box stores,” Pyle said. “It’s easier to get to, easier to park at, (has) more distractions for a would-be thief. Whereas a boutique shop, one employee, small shop: hard to get away with.”
Wal-Mart attracted slightly more than 60 percent of East State Street thefts and almost 25 percent of total thefts in the city of Athens between September 2008 and the end of Fall Semester, according to APD data.
“We’ve made some changes to asset protections over the last couple years to the team inside the store,” said Kayla Whaling, a corporate spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. “The team is very good at identifying people who are trying to steal stuff inside the store and reporting it to the police.”
But with the many Ohio University students who leave for breaks and long weekends, sometimes crime hits closer to home.
When Katie Johnstone, an OU senior studying photography, returned to her house off High Street following Thanksgiving break, her jewelry box, among other items, was missing.
“I haven’t really felt safe … like I used to,” Johnstone said. “I used to leave my house unlocked all the time. I never had problems. … It’s making me change my ways on how I think about Athens. I’m just more cautious.”
Police respond to calls regarding assaults on North Court Street more than any other area in the city, according to the data.
The half-mile stretch also attracts the highest number of disorderly conduct and underage consumption charges in the city.
“Usually the assaults come later in the evening after the alcohol has taken effect on the people who are partaking,” Pyle said. “It’s been like that for generations.”
It’s the patrons, not the businesses, that cause the assaults, Over Hang owner Barb North-Moss said.
“We want everyone to come have a good time,” North-Moss said. “They can get a little rowdy, but not out of control — not destructive to people or things. That’s not what we’re about.”
North-Moss said she makes sure staffing is adequate and that the bar doesn’t exceed capacity for crowd control.
Big Mamma’s Burritos owner Quinn Schaller said he doesn’t see many fights, but rather drunk customers refusing to leave.
Unless his customers’ safety is at risk, he tells his employees to call the police rather than to intervene.
“Our employees are burrito makers, not bouncers,” Schaller said. “I don’t hire my employees to handle situations like that.”
Even the weekends that attract many out-of-towners are manageable—especially because city officials have learned to prepare for them by doing things such as placing additional law enforcement officers on duty, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
“It’s no different than when it’s going to snow (and you start) getting the salt trucks out,” Wiehl said.
@lucasdaprile
ld311710@ohiou.edu
