When you gotta go, you gotta go. That appears to be the case for nearly 1,500 people who were cited for using the streets, parking lots and sidewalks of Columbus as their restroom during the past decade, according to Franklin County Municipal Court citations.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

That appears to be the case for nearly 1,500 people who were cited for using the streets, parking lots and sidewalks of Columbus as their restroom during the past decade, according to Franklin County Municipal Court citations.

�You don�t buy beer, you rent it,� explained Cmdr. Chris Bowling, who oversees Zone 4 for Columbus police. That area includes University District bars along N. High Street, a hot spot for urinating outside. Late at night when the bars are full, �everyone is hunting for a toilet.�

For the desperate, alleys, sidewalks and alcoves are as good a bathroom as any.

The 1,482 citations issued involve only a fraction of those who have relieved themselves outside. Bowling estimated that only a quarter of those caught get cited. Officers are much more likely to give a warning than a citation if someone caught in the act apologizes and moves along quietly.

The drunk and belligerent, he said, do not get such passes.

Columbus city officials passed a public-urination ordinance in 2005 in response to issues raised by Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District officials.

Before 2005, officers could charge someone with public indecency � a sex offense � but that citation didn�t really fit the crime of relieving a full bladder.

�It was clear that not all of (the conduct) would violate the public-indecency statute, as in many instances there was an attempt to conceal the genitalia during urination (duck behind a building, in a doorway, turned away from the street),� chief City Prosecutor Lara Baker-Morrish wrote in an email.

The charge covers both public urination and defecation, but none of 30 complaints the Dispatch pulled for further examination were for No. 2.

A public-urination first offense is a minor misdemeanor, with no jail time and a fine of up to $150. Most defendants pay up or plead.

Lisa Defendiefer, deputy director of operations for Capital Crossroads and the Discovery District SID, said having the charge helps cite people, but a better idea would be a good public-restroom system for those in need.

�Our team is cleaning, unfortunately, urine and feces up on a fairly regular basis,� she said. � It just contributes to a bad image of the Downtown.�

An analysis of the public-urination citations show that Downtown isn�t the most peed-on location. In addition to the University District bar area � particularly Pearl Street � the Arena District and Easton Town Center are hot spots.

About 100 citations were not included on the above map for various reasons, including citations that did not include addresses. Also, because of the mapping program restrictions, one dot on the map may signify multiple citations at that address.

Easton had at least 57 citations, according to a search of nearby streets. An Easton spokesman pointed out that security personnel and special-duty officers are on hand 24 hours a day to enforce laws and the area�s code of conduct for the entertainment and shopping district, which gets more than 22 million visits each year.

The Arena District was the site of at least 122 citations, including 44 at a parking garage at 45 Vine St.

No space is safe. People have peed on University District houses, the side of Arena District apartment buildings, in residential driveways, near Skully�s Music Diner, McDonalds, CVS and Rally�s and in a flower pot at the Hollywood Casino.

The most frequently cited day, unsurprisingly, is Saturday, followed by Friday and Sunday. (Restrooms seem easier to come by on weekdays).

One Saturday night, Sept. 27, a 23-year-old woman was found passed out in an alley at E. 15th Avenue and N. Pearl Street with her pants down and her shirt pulled up. She�d gone there to pee and passed out, Columbus police said.

Initially, police thought that she might�ve been sexually assaulted, but Bowling said there was no evidence of that.

Women peeing outside is rare � or at least, getting ticketed for it is. Only 100 of the citations in the past 10 years were against women. But Bowling said his third-shift lieutenant is seeing more women popping a squat outside.

In addition to typically being male, offenders also often are young. A third of all those cited were between 18 and 24 years old. The oldest was 75.

Bowling said that although public urination is a quality-of-life issue � �We don�t need the whole world using our alleyways as toilets� � it is not a patrol priority.

�Putting together the public-urination directed patrol is not something we�re interested in,� he said.

Still, those daunted by a long restroom or port-a-potty line next weekend should weigh their options carefully. Pee outside at your own risk.

amanning@dispatch.com

@allymanning