OPD Stats: Trouble Up

By LIBBY CUDMORE • allotsego.com

The number of Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta students who have been taken to Fox Hospital more than tripled this fall from the same four-week period in 2013, according to Assistant Fire Chief Jim Maloney.

“There’s been a huge spike in calls this year,” he said.

Between Aug. 18 and Sept. 21 of this year, Oneonta EMS transported 50 college students to Fox Hospital, compared to 16 during the same period the year before, according to data obtained by Hometown Oneonta through the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

“Those calls could be for injury, illness or from being intoxicated,” said Maloney.

Fire calls are also up, from six in 2013 to 15 in 2014, Maloney said, but he attributes that spike to sensitive fire alarms. “Anything can set them off,” he said. “Hairspray, perfume, even steam from the shower. They’re all false alarms.”

One fire did break out at SUNY Oneonta after some garbage thrown in a wall sconce ignited, but maintenance had the fire under control when the fire department arrived on scene.

In all, the fire department and EMS logged 72 calls in all categories – transports to Fox and to Bassett, calls that did not result in transports, fire alarms and the one actual fire – up from 26 in 2013.

Maloney said he now expects that to tail off: “It’s cyclical. We get a lot of calls in the beginning of September, and by late October, November, those calls fall off.”

In neighborhoods students walk through to get back to campus, the Oneonta Police Department has also seen an increase and pattern to the arrests and citations.

To date, the Oneonta Police Department has sent 64 referrals to SUNY Oneonta in their ongoing effort to increase communication between city police and campus security. In the first month of school in 2013, 58 such referrals were made, and in 2012, 67. “The numbers are all in the same neighborhood,” said Brenner – he characterized them as “quality of life violations,” noise complaints, open container and littering. “But we’ve got a little more honest reporting between us and the colleges. We’re not hiding anything.”

The majority of the violations are related to the rise in house parties, Brenner continued. “They’re going from location to location with an open container, they’re in a group, talking loudly, and then they throw their garbage,” he explained.

“We’re trying to get more guys into the neighborhood on bikes, walking through, or just driving, getting more cars to be seen. Hopefully, kids will think twice before doing something they’re not supposed to be doing.”

Overall, however, Brenner reported that the incidents of violence are down. “Last year, there was more fighting,” he said. “But we’ve had enough.”

And though the arrest numbers are up, Brenner admitted, he doesn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. “We’re asking citizens to give us a call,” he said. “It’s a Catch-22.”