Targeted operation results in more than 160 arrests
A targeted police operation involving all 25 Franklin County law enforcement agencies over a 24-hour period this week netted more than 160 felony arrests and took nearly three dozen illegal weapons off the street.
The results of "Operation Unity," which included every law enforcement agency in the county, were announced outside the Barnett Community Center on the East Side on Friday. The location was just steps away from Colonial Village apartments, one of the most dangerous areas in the city, according to a 2020 internal police report.
The operation, which was a targeted enforcement effort focused on the East Side near East Livingston Avenue and James Road, spanned 24 hours from 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday. The target area was about two square miles within Columbus, while Whitehall and other county agencies worked in their respective jurisdictions.
Overall, more than 1,100 traffic stops were made within 24 hours with only half of those resulting in citations. Police were able to arrest 99 felons on outstanding warrants and make another 73 felony arrests. Thirty-two illegal weapons were taken off the street as well.
During the 24-hour period of the operation, there were no shootings reported in Columbus, police Chief Elaine Bryant said.
"Just the fact of knowing we're out here working deters crime," she said.
Bryant said community members were "extremely supportive" of the operation, despite an increased police presence and more traffic stops than normal in the area.
Quay Barnes, chair of the Mideast Area Commission, said she was grateful for the effort put in by police in the neighborhood she has called home for more than 40 years.
"The good people in this community work hard to make it better every day," she said.
The area where the operation took place within Columbus is in a police precinct where 12 homicides have occurred so far in 2021.
The precinct also includes Colonial Village apartments. The city attorney's office has filed motions to speed up the process of forcing the ownership of the complex — one of the largest low-income housing apartment complexes in the city with more than 500 units — into a third-party receivership. The owners of the complex, who are based out of state, have not adequately met requirements for updates and repairs ordered by a Franklin County judge in early August.
Whitehall police Chief Mike Crispen said illegal drugs with a street value of more than $500,000 were recovered over the 24-hour period across the county, as well as five stolen vehicles being recovered.
But the operation also involved education efforts, including providing information on how to prevent crime to more than 5,000 people across the county, including at local universities.
The operation resulted in five OVI arrests in Columbus, as well as executing multiple search warrants.
Bryant said the area will be flooded in the coming days and weeks with social services and additional community engagement to continue to wrap the arms of the entire community around the targeted area. There are also plans for additional operations to take place in other parts of the city at a later date.
"To the criminals, we're coming," Bryant said. ":We suggest you clean up your act because we're coming." bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner