COTA plans to spend more money next year to put more uniformed police officers on city buses to combat a spike in incidents that require law-enforcement response.

COTA plans to spend more money next year to put more uniformed police officers on city buses to combat a spike in incidents that require law-enforcement response.

Between January and October, police responded to an average of 175 incidents a month on Central Ohio Transit Authority buses. That�s an increase of about 36 percent from the average 128 incidents a month during the same period last year.

Bus disturbances can range from refusing to obey COTA policies concerning eating or drinking on the bus to fights and bomb threats, said Clinton Forbes, the agency�s vice president for operations.

�A lot of these are not really that serious,� he said. �We have a really safe system for the number of boardings we have.�

Recently, though, COTA has seen an increase in cellphone thefts on buses � a trend police say is not unique to public transportation. �That�s always been an issue,� Forbes said. �It�s a pretty desirable item.�

In September and October, four cellphones were stolen on COTA buses, he said. So far this month, five phones have been taken.

COTA refused to release incident reports it files about the thefts, citing attorney-client privilege. Columbus police officers file reports when they respond to the incidents, but when asked, the division could not locate any theft reports from buses.

Cellphone thefts are on the rise because the items can easily be sold, said Sgt. Shaun Laird of the Columbus police robbery unit.

�For somebody trying to get their next heroin fix, $40 is another half a day of staying on the drug,� he said.

The phones can be sold online, at mall kiosks and urban markets and to ecoATMs, a type of vending device in which phones can be plugged in, identified and deposited immediately in exchange for cash. Several of the machines have popped up in Columbus.

Ohio has been behind the curve in combating cellphone thefts but has caught up on public transportation, said John Joyce, chief of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority�s police force.

Through the first 11 months of 2013, 240 electronic devices were taken on Cleveland buses and trains, but that has dipped to 173 so far this year, he said.

Joyce credited an awareness campaign and police work for the decrease.

Arresting thieves prevents them from stealing again and deters others, he said, and the police have handed out cards to riders warning them of potential problems.

�People use their smartphones while they�re riding, and they get engrossed in the phones and people take advantage of them,� he said.

His division, which has 108 full-time and 30 part-time officers, also takes random rides on buses to deter crime.

COTA board members approved a $611,000 contract that will put about a dozen uniformed off-duty officers on buses once or twice a month next year.

The agency will identify and target problem areas, Forbes said.

So far this year, COTA has spent about $572,000 for police services. Part of the increase is tied to the police special-duty rate, which has risen with a new union contract. At the same time, COTA is adding about 1,400 hours of service to the 13,800 it had for 2013.

COTA also has a list of 10 to 15 people who have temporary or lifetime bans from the bus system and cameras to help catch criminals. However, Forbes acknowledged that cellphone thieves are difficult to catch.

On a typical day, two off-duty officers respond to bus incidents and perform bus walk-throughs, he said.

�It really is to provide a presence that we care about the safety of our system,� Forbes said.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan

@Crawlumbus