#bellairepd

All is quiet in the All-American Town of Bellaire tonight for the most part. It’s the same as yesterday and the days and weeks before. For Police Chief Richard “Dick” “Flanagan and his officers, it’s not a “too quiet” type of quiet. But a good quiet. The city of Bellaire has been fairly calm the last few months in relation to callers for its village police force. It seems the coronavirus pandemic’s quarantine rules, social distancing, and closure of a number of businesses have kept residents indoors and off the department’s radar. Flanagan, for one, is not complaining. “As far as the police department goes, everything has just bottomed out,” relayed Flanagan when asked about any changes in the crime rate during the peak of pandemic quarantining. “Believe it or not, the people here have been complying with the mandates, so our activity and traffic and number of calls have really dropped off. “Crime has pretty much bottomed out, and there is no one out and about.” It’s theorized that during times of high unemployment drug crimes will increase as those out of work look for ways to cope with the struggle. There was also the fear of an increase in domestic disputes given the quarantine and stay-at-home style orders coming out of Columbus. So, was there an increase in drug crimes? Nope. Domestic assaults? That’s also a negative. “There was no uptick in domestic calls either, and that was one of the few crimes where you could actually take someone to jail,” Flanagan said. “Because of the rules, they were only taking violent crimes, but no, our domestics didn’t see an increase either.”

The village park figures to see an increase in use as the weather warms and restrictions lesson. Flanagan and city councilman Donny Maupin assisted village maintenance worker Jim Smith recently in getting the grass in the park cut in order for the modified graduation celebration. Both Flanagan and Maupin were off and happened to be driving through with their equipment and stopped to help.

The Chief is Not Complaining

“I can’t speak for elsewhere, but here in Bellaire, residents were compliant with the mandates of staying in,” Flanagan said. “Other than the exceptions of people going to and from work and going to the store, I’m extremely pleased and happy with the way people here have complied with the governor’s orders.” That meant fewer traffic stops, less ticket writing, and likely to no one’s disappointment inside PD headquarters, less paperwork. But it didn’t result in less staffing per shift. All shifts were manned as needed as a somber atmosphere can shift gears to serious right quickly. Better to be prepared for any eventuality. “It was business as usual here at the department, regular staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Flanagan said. “The only major change is we tried to have as little face-to- face contact as possible. We also weren’t actively and aggressively pursuing traffic stops and moving violations. That’s not saying we didn’t pull people over, but if we did stop someone, it would be brief, a warning was given, and the officer kept his or her distance.” Calls that could be taken over the phone were answered, and officers were instructed to go into a caller’s house only if absolutely necessary. Flanagan noted there was only one death for COVID-19 in Bellaire, and he credited the Belmont County 911 center staff for giving his officers the proper heads-up to the situation. They were able to take the needed precautions prior to meeting the EMTs and county coroner at the scene.

Both village staples like Gulla's and the recently established Sakura Family Restaurant have seen increased business recently as restaurants have shifted from carry-out only to a near return to pre-pandemic status. Flanagan knows as life returns to normal, his call sheet too will increase.

A Non-Everlasting Peace

Flanagan knows that the quiet isn’t going to last the summer. The phased reopenings, while still too methodical for many, show no signs in slowing down. Life is slowly returning to normal. Temperatures will rise and so will the crime rate at some point. “Whenever you get more people out and about and increased foot traffic, things will eventually return to normal,” Flanagan said. “But when you’re in the police department, you take the jobs as they come. Every call is different. “There is no routine traffic stop or routine call. Each one is different.”

Responsible RestartOhio mandates also involve the pending start of baseball and softball season. While the chief noted he's not going to come and arrest someone for exercising their constitutional rights at a game, he's hopeful that spectators will follow rules. There is also a member of the force who coaches one of the softball teams who will be at the field a good portion of the time.

Added Duties?