PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — Put-In-Bay city leaders say their top priority is to keep visitors and residents safe.
"It's a safe place to be; just mind your manners, be respectful 'cause this is our home," said Put-In-Bay Surf Shop owner Chris Krueger.
As a prominent tourist destination, Put-In-Bay residents want people to know their community is safe to visit.
Chief James Kimble says the village will not tolerate any bad behavior.
"What we saw this past weekend was some people who didn't have respect for themselves, and it was very disheartening," Kimble said.
Last weekend, Kimble said that the village saw more visitors than usual, which led to two arrests and multiple fights.
"We started receiving numerous calls to different locations for incidents like maybe a bar fight and some type of disturbance, and it became an issue when I realized we didn't have enough manpower to respond to everything," Kimble said.
The chief told News 5 he wants to prevent things from getting out of control again for his officers, so he said that you would see more federal and state law enforcement patrolling the area to help their department as they deal with staffing challenges.
"We have a roster of 10 currently, and I would like to have 20-25 if I could. But as we know, across the country, it's hard to hire anywhere," Kimble said.
Mayor Judy Berry said she understands how tough it is for Kimble to try and recruit police officers.
That's why she plans to introduce new regulations to limit golf carts on the island, which she hopes will curb bad behavior.
"It has to be done. It's a huge issue here with the amount of golf carts," Berry said. "It can't be that much fun to be stuck in traffic, and actually, that's what kind of causes issues."
Berry said it wasn't an easy decision. But she thinks it will make it better for visitors and those who live here, like Krueger.
"I've been here since 1986 and raised my kids here, and yeah, this is home. Love it here," said Krueger.
Krueger told News 5 she relies on tourists to keep her business running, so she has this reminder for guests:
"The bottom line is that if you come here and behave yourself, then there won't be any problems," said Krueger.
The mayor hopes to have regulations for the amount of golf carts in effect by next summer.
"We're a tourist destination. It has to be safe if the tourists are going to come, and that's our priority," said Berry.
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