OSU parents and students march for better security on and near campus

Hundreds of Ohio State University students and parents marched Sunday night to call for better safety on and around campus. The group called Buckeyes For A Safe Ohio State organized the rally to remember a slain student and demand more safety measures.

“The majority of the crime we’re hearing about is gun violence,” OSU parent Irene Hendrick said. “It 's students being robbed at gunpoint. Homes being burglarized. Drive by shootings, really violent crime. It’s terrifying.”

The group was formed in the wake of the murder of OSU student Chase Meola in October 2020.

OSU reported a big jump in campus-area crime this year, although numbers have fallen after some recent safety upgrades. Those include spending $2 million a year for the next 10 years on increased lighting, cameras, and patrols.

Hendrick said that’s not enough of an investment.

“We believe that $2 million a year, that comes out to a little bit more than $30 a student, it’s not even, you know, a beginning of what each of those students deserve,” Hendrick said.

Hendrick said when students returned to classes the safety alerts became more frequent.

“Since they came back this fall the crime had just went off the charts,” Hendrick said. “We saw safety notices come out almost every day and some of the safety notices had multiple crimes listed in them.”

Hendrick said her group will continue to discuss improving safety with OSU officials.

“We want more lights, and we want patrols,” Hendrick said. “We want boots on the ground whatever that looks like whether it’s CPD, OSU PD, or private security.”

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