Police seek volunteers to patrol B.G. streets

BOWLING GREEN -- Police have called for volunteers willing to strap on their walking shoes and patrol neighborhoods between downtown and the Bowling Green State University campus on weekend nights.

The police division plans to revive its previously successful Citizens on Patrol program in response to concerns about criminal nuisance behavior that tends to be magnified late at night each spring and fall. The program also is intended to foster better town-gown relations -- specifically, improved respect and cooperation between residents and students.

"A number of residents, particularly from the east side of the city, have identified that there are some of those types of incidents ongoing that they think can be attended to better than they are," said Bowling Green Lt. Brad Biller.

Chief among the problems: vandalism, disorderly conduct, loud noise, public urination, criminal damage, and underage alcohol consumption.

With a commitment of support from the Eastside Residential Neighborhood Group, police decided to revive Citizens on Patrol, which ran from 2000 to 2005 and won the Ohio Crime Prevention Association's Award for Excellence in Community Policing in 2001. Through the program, volunteers armed with flashlights and two-way radios walk through specific neighborhoods between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. and notify police when they observe illegal or suspect activity.

After the program's first year in operation, the city experienced a 14 percent decline in criminal-nuisance violations in the First Ward, which encompasses most of the area east of Main Street and north of Wooster Street. It was shelved after it could not get enough volunteers to keep it going.

Rose Hess, a member of the Eastside group's executive committee, said she and her husband have volunteered to take part in the program this time around. Since 1969, they have lived on the east side, home to the BGSU campus and the majority of student housing.

"Ninety-five to 98 percent of students know how to behave socially," she said. "We're dealing with a very small number, and we don't think they should be allowed to behave the way they do and impact our quality of life."

Mrs. Hess has rejected suggestions to move to the other side of town -- a sentiment echoed in her group's brochure, which concludes, "Remember that you DO NOT have to move to live in a better neighborhood. Get involved. Join Eastside. Make a difference!"

"We choose to live here because we like living around students," Mrs. Hess said. "[Those who break the law] are the ones who need to change their behavior. They should learn how to be good neighbors."

Although the issues that generally derive from alcohol consumption and parties are nothing new, Mrs. Hess said her group monitors the police blotter daily and has noted a disturbing rise in burglaries, assaults, and drug offenses.

"I think all we're trying to do is just keep the ambience of Bowling Green and keep our quality of life pleasant and not have to worry about things like break-ins," she said, adding that she once didn't worry about such things but now has a security system at her home.

"It's one thing if a drunk comes to your door because he thinks it's his house -- that's happened to us -- but if someone comes to your house under the influence of drugs and he wants to rob you, that's another matter," Mrs. Hess said.

Residents and BGSU students 18 years or older who are interested in volunteering for the program have until March 1 to apply. Applications are available from the police division or by emailing mmcdonough@bgohio.org.

Participants must submit to criminal background checks, have no criminal record, complete a four-hour training session, and be available for patrols, which will run from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for about six weeks this spring and again in the fall.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-724-6129.