This ties in with the Cincy thread on crime; is there anything similar where the black communtiy is going to take it upon themselves to fix certain social problems there?

 

From 1/17/06 Columbus Dispatch:

 

Culture of crime targeted:  Coalition of city's black leaders takes on problem of black-on-black violence

 

Just FYI.

 

2005

 

and 2006 (40 so far)

 

http://www.wbns10tv.com/?sec=crimetracker&story=10tv/content/pool/200605/1535146042.html

 

and Here's a Google Earth version:

 

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/431293/an/0/page/0#431293

 

This is certainly one reason why Columbus is continuing to sprawl as noted in the recent edition of the Dispatch. Any ideas on how to bring these numbers down? I think better integrated neighborhoods (regarding class in particular and race) would greatly improve the current situation. Eliminating drug laws would be another part of the solution by keeping all of that money out of the hands of gangs and lowering drug related murders. Still, most of these occured between poor blacks and altercation among themselves, a good number drug related. Others were between people who knew each other. So if you're living in or near a poor neighborhood stay away from drugs and don't get into an argument with anyone and chances are you'll be alright, though crimes such as robberies and assaults aren't covered in these maps.

So umm...there was a murder at the State House?!?!

^Haha, no, but it is awfully close. Apparantly that's the address for City Pharmacy.

DAMN THEM!!!

This probally more an indictment on me than C-bus, but...

I can't make out a spatial pattern concerning either map.  Meaning, the locations for the murders look random to me.  :|

 

I don't think crime in Columbus is as concentrated to certain areas as badly as most cities.

Well, there are more on the east side than west, especially to the north, but they do look rather dispersed.

*Fixed the Google Earth link*

 

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Board=EarthExternalData&Number=431645&Searchpage=1&Main=431645&Words=&topic=1&Search=true#Post431645

So umm...there was a murder at the State House?!?!

^Haha, no, but it is awfully close. Apparantly that's the address for City Pharmacy.

 

that's the reason they moved the high street bus stops from the south side of state to the north side of state...

:roll:

The East end definately has a lion's share of the homicides.  The West side homicides seem to be focused in the Bottoms and the Hilltop.

 

No big surprises here if you follow the local news.

sounds weird but i think this says great things about columbus. from the maps it looks like this kind of terrible heavy duty crime is decentralized and fairly randomly spread around. i.e., no pockets of crime as in so many other cities. not to downplay any big city common sense, but that says to me that at least you don't necessarily have to walk around in a neighborhood in fear of your life.

 

of course the grand sum total is very bad, but so is the area of the city. also, when looking over this it's good to keep in mind the random murders are prob very low, most killers know the victim.

 

I'd like to see a map of homicides in Detroit. It would have to be a big map in order for the map to not look like one giant red dot

How many total died in 2005?

101.

The East end definately has a lion's share of the homicides.  The West side homicides seem to be focused in the Bottoms and the Hilltop.

 

No big surprises here if you follow the local news.

 

Yep, the near northeast (Linden & Weinland Park) and farther north along Cleveland Ave are the other places not to hang out at when it's dark. Not that you'd want to.

\

 

This is certainly one reason why Columbus is continuing to sprawl as noted in the recent edition of the Dispatch. Any ideas on how to bring these numbers down? I think better integrated neighborhoods (regarding class in particular and race) would greatly improve the current situation. Eliminating drug laws would be another part of the solution by keeping all of that money out of the hands of gangs and lowering drug related murders. Still, most of these occured between poor blacks and altercation among themselves, a good number drug related. Others were between people who knew each other. So if you're living in or near a poor neighborhood stay away from drugs and don't get into an argument with anyone and chances are you'll be alright, though crimes such as robberies and assaults aren't covered in these maps.

 

I don't know if I agree with this. How does better integrating neighborhoods drive down murders?

 

Legalizing drugs is just a source of income for people who would commit murder in the hood. There is a philosophy and way of life there among certain people that wouldn't die if you made it legal to purchase narcotics.

 

Murder is a very stark crime statistic, but it doesn't tell the real story. I feel sorry for the innocent regular folks who live in "bad" neighborhoods where crime is rampanent. Just because you aren't getting killed doesn't mean life is good.

 

Interesting stuff. I looked up the crime stats, and Columbus is safer than Cleveland but not anywhere near as safe as New York City, statistically.

\

 

This is certainly one reason why Columbus is continuing to sprawl as noted in the recent edition of the Dispatch. Any ideas on how to bring these numbers down? I think better integrated neighborhoods (regarding class in particular and race) would greatly improve the current situation. Eliminating drug laws would be another part of the solution by keeping all of that money out of the hands of gangs and lowering drug related murders. Still, most of these occured between poor blacks and altercation among themselves, a good number drug related. Others were between people who knew each other. So if you're living in or near a poor neighborhood stay away from drugs and don't get into an argument with anyone and chances are you'll be alright, though crimes such as robberies and assaults aren't covered in these maps.

 

I don't know if I agree with this. How does better integrating neighborhoods drive down murders?

 

Legalizing drugs is just a source of income for people who would commit murder in the hood. There is a philosophy and way of life there among certain people that wouldn't die if you made it legal to purchase narcotics.

 

Murder is a very stark crime statistic, but it doesn't tell the real story. I feel sorry for the innocent regular folks who live in "bad" neighborhoods where crime is rampanent. Just because you aren't getting killed doesn't mean life is good.

 

Interesting stuff. I looked up the crime stats, and Columbus is safer than Cleveland but not anywhere near as safe as New York City, statistically.

 

Yeah, New York City is way safer than any city in "The Heartland". I came across that awhile ago and it's really rather tough to wrap your mind around that.

 

I think a reason for the crimes that occur in these neighborhoods is the fact that they are so dilapidated and that affects the way people feel there. It's called the broken windows theory and it shows that areas that are really rundown and have, for example, broken windows are more likely to have violent crime/murder occur there than other parts of the neighborhood. If low income residents were dispersed all around the city instead of being plopped together in a rotting urban setting it would be much more difficult for entire neighborhoods to see the kind of decline that inner city neighborhoods have. A poor neighborhood just isn't able to revitalize itself on its own. From what I've read, the integration of people of different income has been very successful, though its said that you don't want much more than 10% of low income residents in any given neighborhood.

 

Legalizing drugs would take all that money out of the hands of druglords who are currently ridiculously wealthy thanks to our policies. What former drug dealers would do I'm not sure, there'd probably a parallel you could find regarding prohibition, but I'm not familiar with the immediate aftermath of legalization.

 

I'm aware murder is only one type of crime and it's also the least common. That's why I mentioned this doesn't cover assaults, robberies, etc. The student housing around campus isn't plagued with murders, but if one thinks that an area that isn't dotted is safe, well here's a map of crimes in the University District around OSU (crimes not specified).

 

http://universitydistrict.osu.edu/maps/total_crimes_2001.pdf

of course the grand sum total is very bad, but so is the area of the city. also, when looking over this it's good to keep in mind the random murders are prob very low, most killers know the victim.

 

True, random murders are low, but they occur more than they should. There were a number of shootings the last year or so where kids were killed in their houses because some chickenshits were doing drive by shootings and it was the children who were killed, not their intended targets. Also, several people drive through these areas without incident everyday as major roads pass through these neighborhoods including Broad, Main, and N 4th. So it's good to remember not to exaggerate the danger there.

I came across this while looking for the homicide rate a decade ago. There were 77 in 1995.

 

New York gains reputation as safer city than Columbus

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Kevin Mayhood

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

New York City has long had a reputation as a place to visit, not to live.  A muggers’ paradise forever compared unfavorably to Columbus in the 1970 movie The Out-of-Towners.  A Big Apple compost of weirdos, thieves, thugs and killers.  But now New York is being called safer than Columbus.  In the past decade, Columbus has gone from a homicide rate about two-thirds that of New York City to nearly twice the rate.

 

"New York has legitimately turned around," said Scott Morgan, a publisher who annually ranks the country’s safest cities, based on crime data gathered by the FBI. "They had high crime and have managed to methodically change that."  Columbus, a city of about 750,000, ranks below New York, a city of 8.1 million, on Morgan’s lists of safest cities and has the past nine years.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/07/10/20050710-A1-04.html

THIS JUST IN!!!! MORE POLICING LOWERS CRIME RATE

 

more at 11...

THIS JUST IN!!!! MORE POLICING LOWERS CRIME RATE

 

more at 11...

 

Hahaha. When I lived in NYC a few years back, I noticed the cops there don't play around. They are good at fighting crime. Our cities should be taking notes.

From the 6/16/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Strike force ready to deal with hot spots

Friday, June 16, 2006

Theodore Decker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Teams of Columbus police officers will be freed up again this summer to go wherever they are needed to quell street violence, crack down on openair drug dealing and hunt fugitives.  But this year, the police strike force will operate around the clock and for more days, and it will work more closely with existing division units dedicated to fighting gangs, drugs and homicides, Mayor Michael B. Coleman said yesterday.  "The summer strike force is one more way to put officers on the streets when and where they are needed most," Coleman said in announcing the initiative at Lincoln Park on the South Side.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/06/16/20060616-D3-01.html

 

And the "War on Drugs" continues. Ugh.

From the 7/21/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Agency to enlist ‘foot soldiers’ to cut crime’s impact on blacks

Friday, July 21, 2006

Sherri Williams

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

To stop violence on Columbus’ streets, a new city commission is hoping to recruit volunteers to help in its fight to save young black men.  "We need foot soldiers to get down in the trenches and roll up their sleeves and get dirty," said Walter D. Smith, co-chairman of the commission.  "We need committed soldiers to save ourselves.  Because a loss for one of us is a loss for each of us." 

 

Plans for the city’s African-American Male Empowerment Commission were announced at a town hall meeting yesterday at the Lincoln Theater on the Near East Side.  About 200 people attended the meeting, including Columbus Police Chief James G. Jackson, Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Gene Harris and City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/21/20060721-D3-02.html

 

From the 7/30/06 Dispatch:

 

 

23RD ANNUAL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

Groups hope parties unite neighborhoods

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Matt Zapotosky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

In James A. Johnson’s neighborhood, 165 sets of eyes look out for criminals.  On Tuesday, he’s throwing a party to recruit more.  Johnson is hosting one of about 35 block parties across Columbus that evening for the 23rd annual National Night Out.  The event is aimed at increasing interest in neighborhood block watches, improving relations between residents and police, and simply getting neighbors to socialize.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/07/30/20060730-B6-00.html

 

From the 8/2/06 Dispatch:

 

 

PHOTO: Comedian and juggler Matt Jergens, right, cheers after getting four plates and a beach ball spinning on 12-year-old Esteban Meza, of Gahanna, during that community’s National Night Out celebration.  MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH

 

Anti-crime parties focus on fun

National Night Out brings out spirit of community in some neighborhoods

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Matthew Marx and Dean Narciso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The one-liners came easy in the evening heat as juggler Matt Jergens kept aloft an egg, frying pan and bowling pin.  "Put it on the pavement and it will cook itself," said Jergens, who performed at Gahanna’s anti-crime National Night Out party last night in the parking lot of the Royal Plaza Shopping Center.  Not to be outdone, ’80s-style rock band the Reaganomics opened its concert with the temperature-appropriate Modern English song Melt With You.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/02/20060802-B3-00.html

 

Sounds nice, but there's only two blocks between Parsons & Ann St. Sill, its had a positive effect. More police presence = less crime. I can see you're all flabbergasted.

 

 

Glimmer of hope

Change in neighborhood shows city’s attention is well-placed

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

 

Life on E. Morrill Avenue isn’t for the faint-hearted, but with a bit of assistance from the city, it might be getting better.  Dispatch Reporter Mark Ferenchik documented in April the squalid condition of rental houses in that South Side neighborhood and the shootings and other crime that occurred in broad daylight.  Residents had been seeking help from the city for years.  But a couple of weeks ago, Columbus police and code-enforcement officers paid special attention to the stretch of Morrill between Parsons Avenue and Ann Street.  The atmosphere has changed.

 

Full story at http://www.columbusdispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/02/20060802-A8-04.html

 

Nice.

 

 

Ex-Columbus police officer was filling streets with guns

Friday, August 11, 2006

Kevin Mayhood

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A former Columbus police officer illegally sold 501 guns last year — including one that was found with two Somali men now charged in a terrorist plot in Canada.  Of the other guns that were sold, one was used in a Columbus homicide. Another was traced to a New York City shooting.  One was connected to a man charged with assaulting a Maryland police officer.  Mark Andrew Nelson, 35, of 12850 Blamer Rd., N.W., Johnstown, has put more guns on the streets than anyone arrested in Ohio in at least three decades, said Pat Berarducci, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/11/20060811-A1-03.html

 

From the 8/14/06 Dispatch:

 

 

PHOTO: Dewitt Brown, 72, taking in a summer evening on a friend’s porch, says he is disgusted by the violence he has seen take over the neighborhood he’s called his home for 40 years.  DORAL CHENOWETH III DISPATCH 

 

GRAPHIC: Near East Side

 

PHOTO: Flowers, toys and candles form a shrine at 420 Morrison Ave. Aasaun Parham was fatally shot at the address on Aug. 5. Neighbors say he was an innocent bystander caught by violence plaguing the area.  DORAL CHENOWETH III DISPATCH

 

Streets of fear

Shootings are too often a part of daily life on Near East Side

Monday, August 14, 2006

Matthew Marx

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Many Near East Side residents must put up with urban blight, widespread poverty and what they call "ghetto boys acting stupid."  The entire neighborhood suffers, residents say, from groups of mostly young men and boys who carry guns and deal drugs or make trouble for no good reason.  "It’s pitiful," said Dewitt Brown, 72, who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years and is disgusted with recent violence that has taken the lives of a half-dozen people.

 

The retired union laborer is afraid to walk to the corner store at night for fear of being robbed at gunpoint by "thugs," he said.  "The younger generation is different. They carry guns. … They don’t know right from wrong. … It’s a lot of the drug stuff," Brown said as he sat on a friend’s porch on Franklin Avenue last week.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/14/20060814-A1-02.html

 

"Something must change, Tramiecka said, because children learn from the adults around them."

 

How about gentrification? It'll bring in more people they can look up to. I know some gentrification has already taken place in Olde Towne East, but it's a big area. There's a neat interactive map of the area here http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/flagwars/special_taleco.html where you can see changes between 1990 & 2000.

 

^

Yeah, gentrification.

Where the "well-to-do" move in and cause property values to rise causing the (in some cases working) poor to have to move elsewhere.

 

Yeah, gentrification solves crime problems.  :|

^

Yeah, gentrification.

Where the "well-to-do" move in and cause property values to rise causing the (in some cases working) poor to have to move elsewhere.

 

Yeah, gentrification solves crime problems.  :|

Concurred :[

 

More emphasis should be placed on strengthening and advancing communities that are already in place.

From the 8/27/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Crime witnesses hard to find

Fear of retaliation, stigma against snitching prompt most to keep quiet

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Matt Zapotosky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Jerry Ahrens is not exactly sure what happened on the night of April 13 when a teenager was killed in front of his house on Vilardo Lane. Though Ahrens, 62, usually keeps an eye out for crime in his East Side neighborhood, he said he didn’t see anything that night until police woke him up about 2 a.m. He’s not sure who shot 16-year-old R.J. Gossett or why, but he is certain of one thing: "Somebody knows." Whether that somebody will step forward is a big question — and a daily frustration — for Columbus homicide detectives. In almost 60 percent of the homicides they investigate, witnesses are either uncooperative or hard to find, said Sgt. Dana Norman.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/27/20060827-C1-03.html

 

From the 8/31/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Officer kills man on North Side; second man held

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Matthew Marx

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A Columbus police officer fatally shot a man on the North Side late last night.  The shooting occurred at 10:34 p.m. on North Meadows Boulevard, south of Rt. 161 and just west of I-71.  The man, who had not been identified by early this morning, was taken to Grant Medical Center in full cardiac arrest with a gunshot wound to his chest.  He was pronounced dead at Grant a short time later.  No one else was injured.  Police had a second man in custody in the case while detectives reviewed the circumstances of the shooting, which apparently occurred after police were called to a report of a fight and shots fired at a home on nearby Hillery Road.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/08/31/20060831-D5-03.html

 

From the 9/1/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Strike force gets mixed reviews for efforts to squash street crime

Friday, September 01, 2006

Matt Zapotosky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A police strike force aimed at suppressing street violence this summer recorded 400 more arrests than last year’s effort, but some say the unit still has not done its job.  Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced yesterday that this year’s strike force — a 30-officer unit that operated for 11 weeks — recorded 700 arrests and seized 207 guns.

 

Last year, 57 officers made 292 arrests and seized 35 guns in six weeks.  This year’s enforcement spanned the city.  But some residents who attended the mayor’s announcement on Morrill Avenue on the South Side said the force antagonized their neighborhood and did little to stop the violence.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/01/20060901-E3-02.html

 

From the 9/5/06 Dispatch:

 

 

PHOTO: Police seized $823 in cash during the raid last week, along with two guns and crack cocaine. 

 

PHOTO: Columbus police arrested two men, including the one at right, during this raid last week on S. Central Avenue. The narcotics team found drugs about 80 percent of the time while serving warrants in the first six months of 2006.

 

ANALYSIS OF WARRANTS

Busted

In drug searches, Columbus police usually find what they’re looking for

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Matt Zapotosky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

They don’t always hit home runs, but if Columbus police narcotics officers were judged like baseball players, their batting average would be legendary.  A review of the 129 narcotics search warrants they filed in the first six months of this year showed that they’re batting about .800 in finding what they were looking for.  "We try to be very precise on our search warrants because of the availability for review of our search warrants," said narcotics Sgt. Steve Overholser.  "That’s usually the first point of attack by a defense attorney.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/05/20060905-A1-00.html

 

Concerns about gangs unite Northland area

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Residents were concerned enough about crime and gangs in the Northland area that they lined up out the door of a meeting room at a Morse Road church to learn more last night.  And after the 125 or so jammed into the room at Ascension Lutheran Church, they heard this: "If you think you don’t have gangs up here, think again," Bill Walker, Columbus assistant public safety director, told them.  Many residents talked before the meeting about growing concerns about crime.  Around 20 Block Watches and community groups signed up for the meeting, said Dave Paul, president of the Northland Community Council.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/28/20060928-C2-01.html

From the 10/13/06 Dispatch:

 

 

New ‘ambassadors’ to start patrolling W. Broad on Hilltop

Friday, October 13, 2006

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

If you’re driving down W. Broad Street on the Hilltop next week, don’t be surprised if you see folks walking the sidewalks in royal-blue jackets with the words Hilltop Ambassador on the back.  The three ambassadors will walk W. Broad Monday through Friday, from the late morning through the early afternoon, watching for crime, reporting code violations such as high weeds or broken windows, picking up trash, and pointing visitors to where they need to go.  The Hilltop Ambassador Program, funded with part of a $50,000 city community-safety grant to Homes on the Hill, is geared toward making the street a more welcoming area.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/13/20061013-D5-01.html

 

From the 11/9/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Anti-gang sweep snares 19 on drug, weapons charges

Multi-agency force fans out in search for 63 suspects

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Kevin Kidder

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Nineteen suspected gang members from across Columbus were arrested yesterday, as police conducted a methodical sweep as part of the mayor’s anti-gang initiative, officials announced.  They were some of the 63 suspects that police, the DEA, the U.S. marshal’s office and parole officers were searching for last night, said Columbus police Sgt. Chantay Boxill.  Those arrested yesterday were mainly wanted for drug or weapons charges and had been identified by police as members of gangs that did business on the South Side, though they live all over the Columbus area, she said.  All those arrested were in the Franklin County jail at Jackson Pike last night, she said.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/09/20061109-D11-00.html

 

From the 11/23/06 AP:

 

 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT STUDY

Columbus among 18 cities chosen for crime research

Thursday, November 23, 2006

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

The federal government selected Columbus and 17 other metropolitan areas yesterday to study for clues on why homicides and other violent crimes are on the rise nationally.  The Justice Department study comes after FBI data in September showed violent criminal activity — including rape, murder, robbery and aggravated assault — rising by 2.2 percent from last year.  That marked the first increase in violent crimes since 2001.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/23/20061123-C8-05.html

 

From the 12/1/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Gangs taking over street, Hilltop residents complain

Police at forum hear about violence

Friday, December 01, 2006

Matthew Marx

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Gang members are becoming bolder and more violent on S. Ogden Avenue, concerned Hilltop homeowners and community leaders told Columbus police last night.  Neighbors in the 600 block of S. Ogden reported seeing and hearing 20 to 28 gang members routinely sitting around, drinking beer and cursing loudly at 3 a.m. and later.  "You call police. They break them up. They’re back out there the next night," resident Lonnie Wellman said.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/01/20061201-B5-01.html

 

From the 12/2/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Police round up members of new Short North Posse

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Kevin Mayhood

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

When gunshots were fired at Columbus police officers at several Short North locations this spring, police and federal agents began targeting the area.  Undercover agents infiltrated and bought crack from the second generation of the Short North Posse, a violent, drug dealing street gang they had dismantled a decade ago, investigators said.  Yesterday, about 30 officers and agents rounded up four gang members from homes and caught one when he was released from a hospital, authorities said.  Indictments that were unsealed charged five others, three of whom are on the run and two who already were in custody.  Most of the 10 charged yesterday could face up to life in prison if convicted of the drug and gun charges against them.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/02/20061202-C3-01.html

 

From the 12/4/06 Dispatch:

 

 

TASER INCIDENT AT DOWNTOWN HOTEL

Man dies after fighting with police

Monday, December 04, 2006

 

A man died last night after police officers used a Taser on him and wrestled him inside a Downtown hotel.  Columbus police were investigating the incident, which began at 9:24 p.m. inside the Columbus, a Renaissance Hotel, 50 N. 3rd St.  The man, whose name wasn’t released, had assaulted a hotel security guard after refusing to leave Bar 41, a bar in the lobby that faces 3rd Street, police said.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/04/20061204-B3-03.html

 

From the 12/6/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Cause of man’s death still undetermined in Taser case

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

 

A preliminary autopsy couldn’t determine how a man died shortly after struggling with Columbus police at a Downtown hotel last weekend, the Franklin County coroner said last night.  Briant K. Parks, 39, died Sunday after police fired a Taser at him and wrestled with him inside the Columbus, a Renaissance Hotel.  The Taser didn’t shock him because one of the probes missed and the other hit Parks’ coat, police said.  But Parks went into cardiac arrest in the hotel lobby and later died at Grant Medical Center.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/06/20061206-B4-03.html

 

From the 12/1/06 Dispatch:

 

 

Gangs taking over street, Hilltop residents complain

Police at forum hear about violence

 

Good God...this is just a few blocks east of me. Damn Gangs and Criminals!

From the 12/2/06 Dispatch:

Police round up members of new Short North Posse

Saturday, December 02, 2006

...

Arrested yesterday were Kenneth Earl Rayshawn "Shizzle" Slaughter, 23, of 90 E. Russell St.; Troy "Paulie" Locke, 21, of 1156 Michigan Ave.; Erica Thompson, 25, whose address was unknown; Thomas Emanuel Coates Jr., 20, of 3464 Eisenhower Rd.; and Terrel Lamar "T-Patt" Patterson, 19, of 1407 N. 21 st St.

 

As of last night, police were looking for Dominic "Nic Nic" Holt-Reid, 23, of 1309 N. 5 th St.; Ricco L. Maye, 24, of 1435 N. 4 th St.; and Jonathan Ransom, 25, whose address was unknown.

 

Do these guys have naming consultants or what?

 

Go Short North!

 

From the 12/7/06 Dispatch:

 

 

3 police officers named in Taser case

Thursday, December 07, 2006

 

Three Columbus police officers fought with a man who died Sunday night after they say he resisted arrest inside a Downtown hotel.  Police released the names of those officers yesterday: Christopher Bailey, Matthew Deerwester and Steve Simmons.  They were called to the Columbus, a Renaissance Hotel, 50 N. 3 rd St., on the night that Briant K. Parks died.  The officers were responding to a report that an unruly bar patron had attacked a security guard at Bar 41 in the hotel lobby, police said.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/07/20061207-D6-04.html

 

From the 12/16/06 Dispatch:

 

 

PHOTO: A fingerprint is scanned, then compared with those in the Franklin County database.

 

Device takes suspects’ fingerprints in the field

Police can quickly search database, skip trip Downtown

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Matt Zapotosky

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Taking suspects Downtown for fingerprinting might become a thing of the past for Columbus police officers.  Nineteen Columbus precincts and one covert unit will each receive a handheld device this week that can take suspects’ fingerprints on the spot and compare them with prints in a Franklin County database.  If a suspect has been arrested previously by police in Columbus, Grove City, Upper Arlington or Dublin or by Franklin County deputy sheriffs, his or her prints will be in the database.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/17/20061217-C1-04.html

 

From the 1/1/07 Dispatch:

 

 

Lower homicide rate in 2006 still means 102 died

Monday, January 01, 2007

Theodore Decker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Homicides in Ohio’s other big cities jumped last year, but slayings in Columbus ebbed slightly.  Columbus police say 2006 ended with 102 killings, two fewer than in 2005.  There were 88 in 2004.  Lt. James S. Schrader, a homicide squad supervisor, said the unit had feared that 2006 would surpass the previous year’s surge, but the slayings slowed as the year ended.

 

Meanwhile, killings in Cleveland and Cincinnati soared.  Homicides in Cincinnati topped its 2005 total of 79 by early December.  By yesterday, the number had risen to 85, the most victims since police started keeping reliable records in 1950.  Cleveland homicides have risen from 78 in 2004 to 109 in 2005 to, as of Saturday, 119 in 2006, the deadliest year in a decade, according to FBI and local statistics.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/01/01/20070101-A1-03.html