Athens officials will light Mill Street this Halloween in an effort to cut down on crime.
Following suit from spring’s Palmerfest, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle has decided to place four portable lighting units along Mill Street during this year’s Halloween weekend because of high pedestrian traffic.
The lighting units, the only Halloween lighting changes, will be placed on Mill Street between the cross streets of College and Stewart.
“The street always has heavy pedestrian flow on Halloween night,” said Pyle, adding that the lights will hopefully help keep people moving.
Similar to last year, traffic flow on Mill will be solely eastbound.
“I think it’s a good idea that we are adding the lighting. The weekend is going to be a lot safer,” said Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl.
The lighting is expected to help in terms of pedestrian safety, similar to that of Palmerfest, he added.
At present, Athens City Council does not have plans in the works to permanently improve city lighting, said council President Bill Bias.
In 2010, on-campus sexual-assault reports totaled 12, with six forcible rapes and six forcible fondling cases. Those totals are up from 2009, in which there were eight forcible rapes reported and no forcible fondling.
So far this year, three rape and three sexual-imposition cases have been reported.
“It might be beneficial to have a better-lit campus year-round in regard to safety,” said Susanne Dietzel, director of Ohio University’s Women’s Center. “I come from a big city, and I definitely think that Athens and the campus is underlit.”
The addition of lighting to the campus might help prevent some of the rape and sexual-assault cases that occur outdoors, she added, but most of the cases occur in homes, apartments or residence halls.
“Prevention of sexual assault is a multipronged operation, but one prong is definitely lighting,” Dietzel said.
sm366909@ohiou.edu
