Local police branches aren’t anticipating anything out of the ordinary in preparation for Ohio University’s homecoming weekend.
The Ohio University Police Department is working alongside the Athens Police Department in policing the Homecoming parade and staffing the football game against Central Michigan University, OU Police Chief Andrew Powers said.
“It’s a busy weekend, but we kind of take it in stride,” Powers said. “We do it every year and it’s part of the job.”
OUPD’s presence at the game will be the same as any other home date, he added.
“We’re taking the measures that we think are appropriate in terms of staffing and in terms of stadium security and venue security and those kinds of things,” Powers said.
For the APD, most of the preparation revolves around the parade and securing the traffic route, Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said.
“Beyond that, we normally beef up on most home football game weekends,” Pyle said. “We’re not doing anything else extraordinary.”
The department will have to have officers placed at specific intersections, he added.
“We’ll probably have some sort of barricade system in place at the corner of South Court and Union, but that’s typical,” Pyle said.
The Athens County Sheriff’s Office will not be participating in patrolling the parade, Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly said.
“We’ll just be there,” he added.
Overall, Powers said OUPD will staff appropriately for the different events the university has going on.
“We take the measures that we believe are appropriate to protect the safety of the community and to try to make the event as safe as we can make it,” Powers said, adding that he cannot divulge the specific details of those preparations as a safety precaution.
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