The Columbus Division of Police hopes people who took part in the weekend riots will realize the error of their ways.
“We want people to take responsibility,” said Columbus Police Lt. Mike Broberg. “If you were involved and had a change of heart, then give us a call.”
Broberg said he wants more victims to step forward.
“Some people think when something like this happens, it is too big to file all the reports, but we want people to fill out reports,” Broberg said.
Regardless of whether rioters gain a sudden sense of morality, the Columbus police said they know they still have a lot of work.
“Our biggest challenge is identifying who the people on the tapes are,” said Steve Saltsman, head of Columbus arson investigation. “We will review those tapes and try to figure out who those people are. We are also having a hard time in identifying all the burnt cars.”
Two of the vehicles are so badly damaged that the usual identification methods — license plates and VIN numbers — were destroyed.
Police officals said they are mystified as to how they can both combat the riots and deal with the public relations that comes with crowd control.
“In the past, if we’re out there students go; ‘It’s your fault,’ but if you’re not out there they also say ‘it’s your fault,’ ” said Columbus police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio.
Columbus Division of Fire Chief Mike Fultz said he is proud of the way his people handled the violence that occurred when they attempted to control the various fires. The firefighters continued to work while they were peppered with insults, rocks and bottles.
“It was an extremely unusual experience,” Fultz said. “Citizens usually help us when their neighborhood is on fire. The scale of rioters against firefighters was much larger than normal. The last time it was like that was in the ’60s and ’70s.”
No citizens or officers got hurt, Fultz said.
He commended firefighters for their work.
“We don’t expect 24 hours of constant runs. Some engines had over 40 runs in 24 hours,” he said.
