COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An increase in crime on the city's north side has business owners teaming up with police to stop crime before it affects their bottom line and their customers.
Northland area businesses are fighting back to keep criminals from their stores and away from customers, NBC 4's Candice Lee reported.
"They've suffered a lot of burglaries in the area, a lot of robbers. Some of the patrons in the parking lots have been robbed," said Officer Scott Clinger, Columbus police community liaison.
Dave Cooper co-chairs the Northland Area Business Blockwatch -- a grassroots effort using the Internet to report criminal activity in the area.
"We feel the Northland Area Community Business Watch is a way that we can communicate with each other and try to share information," Cooper said.
Minutes after a CVS pharmacy at state Route 161 and Maple Canyon was robbed on March 10, Northland businesses received detailed information about the crime by e-mail, including how the suspect used a crow bar to commit the crime.
Clinger said the information helps them catch perpetrators.
"It keeps the lines of communication open between the public, between the businesses and they can sometimes develop information that doesn't make it into an initial police report," Clinger said.
As for what's causing the spike in crime, Clinger said high truancy rates at the three high schools in the area are contributing to the problem. In fact, they have tied several robberies to students skipping class.
But as more and more businesses join the block watch, owners said they hope to facilitate a change for the better.
Other ways the block watch is keeping crime away is by improving nighttime lighting in and around the area -- and improving signage outside the businesses, making it easier to report where crimes are occurring.
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