Local business leaders consider it a win-win situation for keeping crime down in downtown Columbus.
A new Columbus Police Department substation has opened at the CPI Group Inc. on 112 Fifth St. N.
“This is a win-win situation for those who are residents of downtown Columbus and the downtown merchants,” said CPI Group Inc. CEO Mark Smith. “We have little crime in the downtown area, and we want to keep it that way. With the new CPD substation located here, it should help.”
A dedication ceremony was held Tuesday in front of the CPI Group offices as Smith and other CPI employees joined Columbus Police Chief Joseph St. John, along with Columbus Mayor Robert Smith and other community leaders in cutting the ribbon to signify its opening.
Smith said he and St. John met months ago to discuss establishing a substation in a downtown business area.
“The downtown area brings so much to Columbus, with its residents and merchants and its history and beauty,” Smith said. “When I mentioned to the chief about putting a substation in the downtown area, he said he was for it.”
The substation will be used as a place for officers to use as a headquarters when downtown events are taking place, including Market Street Festival the weekend of May 7-8, St. John said.
“This will also be used as a pit stop for our officers to rest when they are downtown as well as a place to work when there are activities taking place,” he added. “We will not have officers in the substation at all times, but we will have them to come by and check what is going on.”
Putting in substations in residential neighborhoods and businesses is nothing new for the department, said CPD Public Information Officer Terrie Songer.
“We have had police substations in place for many years before now,” she said
There are CPD substations in place at Leigh Mall, and the Southside area at what used to be Fuqua Apartments. In March, a substation was established at the old concession stand at Sim Scott Park.
The substation at CPI is situated in a back office with a phone, a computer and a television.
St. John couldn”t provide specific numbers on downtown crime, but there have been some incidents his department has addressed.
“The biggest problem downtown was some vandalism last fall, and vagrants that have walked the streets,” he said. “Those things have been taken care of. We tell merchants to tell the vagrants to leave. We have had to pick them up.”
St. John said the need for the substation at CPI as well as Sim Scott and other places is that it gives the department a chance to get out and get involved in the community.
“We want to be involved in the community, and downtown Columbus is part of the community,” he said. “The most important thing about these substations is that our officers are getting out and meeting the people.”
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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