COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Council on Monday voted unanimously to approve amendments made to its budget, which will allocate $2 million to public safety in the city. $500,000 of that funding will go directly toward safety enhancements in the Short North.
Some residents and business owners in the area said they’ve noticed some improvements since last summer.
"It's been better. We still go out at night, still try to be in before midnight, you know but nothing too crazy,” Ryan Sapienza said.
Last summer, Sapienza was impacted by a late-night shooting in the area as he was trying to sleep.
"A lot of gunshots went off right here at the corner, one went through my window, kinda scary,” Sapienza said.
As bullets flew through windows of apartments and businesses, one of them struck several feet above where Sapienza was sleeping. But he said this incident was not enough to deter him from the area, despite its lasting effect.
"Any time you see an argument outside you might think, you know, what's gonna happen next?” Sapienza said.
Just over two months ago, Brody Smith, owner of 614Sneaker, said his business was broken into.
"Of course it sucks, but not much we could do about it other than put up a gate, we of course have insurance, and we got cameras and all that,” Smith said.
Smith said he found some peace of mind knowing police were able to track down the suspects. In Sapienza’s case, police were not able to catch the people involved, which is why he believes additional cameras throughout the area could help with accountability.
"You do something stupid, you gotta be held accountable,” Sapienza said.
Meanwhile, Smith said they haven’t had any issues since they installed a gate inside for when they’re closed.
"My biggest concern was just what will happen overnight when no one's at the store,” Smith said.
Both Smith and Sapienza agreed the city allocating more funding to the Short North is a positive effort to reduce crime in the area.
"There's some great people in this area but I also feel like, you know, we're also the center of Columbus and Columbus is not the most safest city in the world, and I think there is definitely a lot of thieves and criminals out there,” Smith said.