The city recently installed loudspeakers and brighter lights in an attempt to break up later night gatherings on the town square. According to the city website, the police department has had more than 1150 calls to the town square. While some of the calls are for motorist assistance and bar checks, the majority "are shootings, fights, drunk and disorderly conduct, public urination, bathing in the fountain, defecating on public property, bullying, drug use, and drug sales".
By my calculations, that comes out to an average of four police calls to the town square a day since the start of the the year. That's an awful lot of police activity in a small part of town. Barrring posting police presece there permanently, I am not sure what else the city can do to mitigate the calls there. I am not sure how effective music will be at moving people around but brighter lighting should make people going to restaurants int he area more secure.
No comments:
Post a Comment