The corner bar and rooftop grill on northgate

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) -The College Station Police Chief recently addressed what he says are unsafe conditions due to environmental factors in the Northgate Entertainment District.

Chief Billy Couch attributes the rise in crime in Northgate in part to unprecedented growth in the residential population and licensed bars.

The Northgate Entertainment District is currently home to 31 bars that combined hold a capacity of 10,168 patrons.

In his presentation to the city council last week, Chief Couch presented data collected over the past three years showing the strain that crime in the area has placed on police resources.

According to the data released by the department, officers responded to nearly 11,000 calls in the area during 2021 far surpassing any area of the city. Of those 11,000 calls, more than 10,000 occurred during the night resulting in 473 arrests in 2021. That number is expected to exceed 500 this year. The data was also compared to calls and arrests in three other highly populated areas of the city like University Drive East, Post Oak Mall, and Century Square.

Arrests for the other three areas identified show a drastic difference. Since 2019 data provided shows only 14 arrests on University Drive East, 39 at Post Oak Mall, and 2 at Century Square.

The number of police calls trends in the same direction. Since 2019 the College Station Police have responded to Century Square 368 times, University Drive East a total of 1,821 times, and Post Oak Mall 2,702 times compared to 26,964 times in Northgate. It’s also important to note that the data for 2022 includes call totals projected by the College Station Police Department.

The Corner Bar and Rooftop Grill on Northgate owner Barry Ivins feel the report was not entirely fair and singles out only bars.

“I think it was a one-sided presentation against the bars on Northgate which really surprised me,” said Ivins. “I think Northgate is an asset to the city, not a liability and the presentation was definitely one-sided like we’re a liability to the town.”

As part of the presentation, Chief Couch outlined short and long-term safety considerations for the city council to consider and says the suggestions are not specific to any bar and are not meant to single any bar out.

“The presentation wasn’t a specific presentation about individual bars. It’s the collective nature of 31 bars being in a very small geographic footprint with occupancies of over 10,000 people,” said Chief Couch. “The arrests are up, the types of arrests are up. Acts of violence are up in the area. We’ve found weapons more frequently, a 400 percent increase in weapons discovered in that environment last year.”

As it related to bar-specific changes Chief Couch is proposing an ordinance that will require cameras within bars, removing outdoor speakers, and dining boxes, and checking patrons for weapons upon entry to bars. Things he says will help reduce the load on officers on patrol in the area.

“We feel like we need to make some changes in that area to regain that safety and put some strategies in place for some long-term planning,” said Chief Couch. “The call volume is going up, the call types are getting worse and it’s getting more dangerous so we wanted to make sure our council was aware of that.”

It’s one suggestion outlined that really has business owners concerned and that’s a proposed change in the time bars are allowed to serve. Currently, the last call is at 2 a.m.

Chief Couch nor the city council discussed a specific proposed time of last call.

“We make most of our money of the home football games and with Miami being an 8 o’clock kickoff, all of a sudden that games over at midnight, will be even be open after the game I mean those are the kind of things from a tourism standpoint that you’re kind of losing to the 80,000 people that goes to these games,” said Ivins.

In a previous statement, College Station Mayor Karl Mooney said the city and council members want to ensure that the Northgate Entertainment District is an enjoyable place for all to visit and says all stakeholders will come together to do what’s in the best interest of all involved.

“Some of the activities that are going on are wonderful and great and some of them not so great, so we need to make sure that we’re trying to address those in the most effective way we possibly can for the safety of those who are in Northgate,” said Mooney. “We need to make sure that we’re responding to the needs of Northgate, its business owners as well as the folks that frequent there.”

Ivins says the economic and tourism impacts as well as the impact on business owners should be considered before any recommendations are made.

Despite the difference of opinion Ivins says he appreciates the work that the men and women of the College Station Police Department do daily and says he would also like to see the department receive the additional resources needed to continue to keep Northgate safe without impacting business owners and changing the atmosphere many are accustomed to when visiting Northgate.

‘Those guys have done a great job to make Northgate a safe place to be at. I mean 18 years ago when I first got on Northgate there were fights all the time and there are more officers here to document this kind of stuff but like it’s the safest it’s ever been,” said Ivins.

The complete presentation and data released by the College Station Police Department can be found here.

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