COLUMBUS, Ind. – An analyst at the Columbus Police Department has provided call data from 2015 through 2018 for the vicinity of the Brighter Days emergency shelter for homeless individuals, run by the Love Chapel agency. The only category for which call numbers are higher for 2018 than in previous years is suspicious persons and/or vehicles.
The data was provided to Local News Digital in response to recent media coverage of the controversy surrounding the shelter. Area residents and business owners registered their complaints of loitering and drug use in the Brighter Days neighborhood at two recent public meetings. The first was at a gathering at the America and Roby Anderson Community Center on September 20, and then also at an October 15 meeting at city hall with Mayor Jim Leinhoop, police chief Jon Rohde, and other officials.
Brighter Days homeless shelter is located at 421 S. Mapleton St., in Columbus. It began operating in 2015.