COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the last day of class for Columbus City Schools, Mayor Andrew Ginther announced some of the restrictions in the Short North will ease and there may be fewer officers in the district to allow police to be more responsive to communities in need.
The city will scale back parking restrictions to allow street parking along the southbound lanes of High Street between Goodale Street and Fifth Avenue. Street parking along the northbound lanes of High Street will still not be permitted after 10 p.m.
The city is still asking bars and restaurants to close early and food trucks are still barred from serving after midnight.
Ginther said the Columbus Division of Police will start its "Safe Streets" initiative this weekend, where officers will be seen on bikes, in addition to continuing other safety programs like Operation Moonlight that adds officers to high visibility areas, and Operation Burnout that focuses on street takeovers.
Columbus City Council has approved double time pay for officers to work overtime shifts for those programs.
Potts said officers are volunteering for the shifts.
“You never can say what you can't force someone to do. Officers have been doing this detail since summer started and last year, and we didn't force anyone. Can it happen? Yes," Potts said.
Sunday night before shots were fired near Canal Winchester, a neighbor called 911 about the large party, but was told there were no officers available.
“We didn't find out about that call until afterwords. We had Operation Burnout officers. We had some officers who were working Moonlight. Our resources could have been redirected, however you know that we don't handle the 911 call center,” Potts said.