Mount Pleasant may be going crazy
Dear Mount Pleasant, I really want to know what has gotten into you lately.
Part of my responsibility as the police reporter requires me to read over the Mount Pleasant Police Department’s daily press log, which breaks down recent arrests.
Most of them are minor. A couple guys got drunk and peed on the Wayside, or a rowdy party was broken up.
Occasionally, something a little weirder will show up, like a July incident where a man was held at gunpoint for an hour, only for the gunman to reveal it was a BB gun.
Over the last few months though, things have taken a serious turn.
It was hard not to notice the serious nature of some of the crimes this summer. A man was stabbed during a wedding at Island Park, a woman was killed on the tribal reservation and a man held off Shepherd police with a gun for two hours.
That’s not even mentioning the shooting at The Cabin, a tragedy that rocked Mount Pleasant.
Reading the press logs since returning to Central Michigan University has reflected the shift. There have been a number of burglaries, fights leading to people being hospitalized and even a few cases of criminal sexual conduct.
I covered the same subject last semester and things never seemed this crazy.
One of the main selling points of CMU is it has historically been a very safe place to attend college. The police are proactive and involved, and the campus is pretty safe to walk through.
As a freshman and sophomore, I would routinely walk home at night by myself and think nothing of it. But in this environment, I would have to really think it over before doing it again.
Perhaps it can be attributed to everyone coming back, partying and making bad decisions. Maybe things will calm down in a few weeks as students settle into classes.
Let’s calm down a bit, people of Mount Pleasant. I’ll find something else to write about in the mean time.
