Ohio State students can expect to see police officers on every corner as part of crowd control this weekend.
Mayor Michael Coleman, Ohio State administrators and police officials gathered on campus Monday to announce plans for Saturday, when OSU’s top-ranking football team plays second-ranking University of Michigan at Ohio Stadium.
The car and couch fires, flipped vehicles and looting that took place after the 2002 rivalry game at OSU has led community officials to increase security measures in recent years.
“Nov. 18 is the biggest game in our school’s history, and maybe the biggest game in football history,” Coleman said.
As in the past, the Columbus Police Department will be collaborating with Columbus Fire, University Police, the Franklin County Sheriff’s office and Ohio State Troopers to respond to campus-area problems Friday and Saturday night.
“Our strategy has been amplified,” said Mitch Brown, director of the Columbus Department of Public Safety. “Obviously at a bigger game there is a potential for bigger problems.”
He said this weekend will have the highest police presence OSU’s campus area has ever seen.
“I’m not going to go into the details of our tactics, but I can assure you that those individuals who choose to act inappropriately and be disruptive, all you need to do is look around or look over your shoulder and there will be a Columbus police officer,” Brown said.
With the exception of “a few problems at the Texas game” – when more than 50 fires were set and multiple arrests were made – Brown said there have been no major problems since 2002.
“We played Michigan in 2004, we beat ’em and we didn’t have any problems,” Brown said; he expects the same this time around.
As a way to prevent dumpster fires, Brown said all campus dumpsters will be emptied three times this week: once early in the week and once on both Friday and Saturday.
Authorities will also continue to crack down on underage drinking. At least 22 people were arrested on related charges Oct. 7, the day OSU played Bowling Green. Brown said there will be undercover police officers on campus Saturday.
“Screwing up this weekend could not only land you in jail but can also get you suspended from school,” said Richard Hollingsworth, vice president of student affairs.
He said his department is taking a “zero tolerance approach” and those who are arrested could face as little as a warning to as much as permanent dismissal from OSU.
About 20 student affairs staff and Undergraduate Student Government members will be walking around the night of the game and approaching hosts of parties that appear to be getting out of hand, Hollingsworth said. He called the approach “soft intervention.”
Student affairs will also be putting on several residence hall events this week to keep students safe, Hollingsworth said.
On Saturday night, those who live on campus will have a chance to win an all expense paid trip to the National Championship game. To qualify, residents must check in at their residence hall at 10 p.m., midnight and 2 a.m.
Hollingsworth and others emphasized that they want students and fans to have a good time, but to do it responsibly.
Gene Smith sounds off
OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith said to a room full of reporters Monday that students have the right to sell their Ohio State football tickets if they want.
“As long as it is legal, and this is a democratic society, they are taking advantage of the free market place,” Smith said.
His statements were quite the contrary to what Bill Jones, senior director of ticketing for the OSU Department of Athletics Office, said to The Lantern last week.
“Anybody who has tickets through us is not supposed to sell them,” Jones said. “It’s stated on the application and it’s stated on the rules.”
More than 31,000 student tickets were sold this season, and as of Friday 2,900 upgrades were made, Smith said.
Smith also talked about the paramount importance of student safety on campus.
“If someone wants to climb goal post, I don’t care about the goal post,” he said. “We’re a multi-million dollar operation. We can buy a million of those things. What I care about is the person that falls off of the goal post and what happens to them when they fall. Do I care about the couch that gets burned? No. If somebody wants to burn a couch, I’ll buy them five couches and we’ll put them in a room and they can burn them and watch them burn. That’s not what it’s about. They can get hurt burning a couch. What we have to worry about is people hurting themselves.”
Smith said when OSU has the opportunity to have this much national attention, students need to take advantage of that and send a message about OSU’s excellence.
