MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Morgantown Safe Streets program is back with the return of West Virginia University students in Morgantown.
Morgantown Police Department Deputy Chief Chris Ruehmer said in about a week the population of the city doubled, not to mention a significant increase in vehicle traffic.
He said the first goal of the Safe Streets program is to be visible and accessible to citizens in need.
“The second piece of it was a quality of life piece,” Ruehmer said. “We wanted to make sure we were addressing those things that were a squeaky wheel for us, whether that was litter or nuisance-type activities.”
The program is staffed through volunteer overtime and is moved around the city as needed depending on calls for service, traffic or events. Part of the strategy is to not be predictable and to follow tips from the public and concerns officers on a typical shift might not have time to address.
“We bounce them around a little bit, so we change, we change it up,” Ruehmer said. “Sometimes we’re there in the daytime and sometimes we’re there in the evening, and I’m sure everyone in the greater Morgantown area is aware that in the evening, especially in the evening, downtown gets jumping.”
Increased traffic on Scott Avenue in the area of Hazel’s House of Hope was recently blamed on the newly-passed camping ban in Morgantown. The camping ban is about three months old. Ruehmer said it’s likely a combination of an increased law enforcement presence in downtown and more services moving to the Scott Avenue area that are the catalysts.
“That would be my hope that these people in need of social services would go to Scott Avenue and Hazel’s House of Hope,” Ruehmer said. “Because that is the primary place where services are going to be made available to them.”
Ruehmer said the social worker assigned to the department, Kelly Rice, who was recently recognized during the recent Municipal League of Cities conference, has been vital in getting people the help they need. Rice has been the liaison between organizations offering services and the people on the street in need of services.
“Kelly Rice is priceless,” Ruehmer said. “She does more for connecting people with services they need and being that conduit between West Virginia Peers and West Virginia Sober Living to those people in crisis.”
Ruehmer also commented on the conduct of the incoming class of students at WVU by saying there haven’t been major issues to this point.
“It’s exciting for me, and I’m sure it’s exciting for them,” Ruehmer said. “So far very well-behaved, so kudos to WVU and their student body.”