The Athens Police Department plans to use extra officers to deal with an increased number of fights and assaults during Spring Quarter, Athens police chief Richard Mayer said.
Mayer said the number of fights and assaults that occur in Athens generally increases in the winter and spring, and more noise complaints are filed in the spring when students are outside because of nicer weather.
We have
at various times various shifts of extra officers during Spring Quarter Mayer said, declining to provide a more specific number.
A shortage of police officers has undermined APD's ability to conduct extra activities, such as sending plain-clothes police officers into bars, he said.
The Ohio University Police Department does not change its tactics for Spring Quarter, Lt. Rich Russell said.
Spring Quarter crimes are just the same alcohol things we always deal with
he said, but more students will be outside, which allows for the possibility of more crime to occur.
More students are cited for drinking and drug possession in their dorms during Winter Quarter, Russell said, adding that OUPD has been aggressively citing students for all drug- and alcohol-related crimes.
However, according to police statistics, 1,323 people were arrested or referred to judiciaries for alcohol-related offenses in 2004, while 2,047 were arrested or referred to judiciaries in 2002.
Russell said it is difficult to compare assaults and fights on campus each year because only a small number are reported.
OUPD is still working with the university to decide whether extra officers will be used to police street parties such as Palmerfest and Millfest, Russell said.
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