Bel Air police are busy these days now that Main Street has a prosperous bar scene.
“On a busy night, we probably have about 2,000 people drinking in town,” said Bel Air Police Chief Leo Matrangola.
For decades, bars flanked Bel Air?s downtown thoroughfare. But in the 1990s, several chain restaurants and bars in other areas began to draw customers away from Main Street.
Efforts to revitalize Bel Air bore fruit in 2003 when Canton mainstay Looney?s opened on Main Street.
Today there are four bars within three blocks on Main Street ? Looney?s North, The Tower, Sean Bolen?s Irish Pub and Ropewalk Tavern ? and with more people drinking on Main Street, Bel Air police have increased their visibility.
In 2004, Bel Air police responded to 75 calls for service in the Main Street district after midnight. That number jumped by more than 60 percent ? to 126 ? in 2005, Matrangola said.
Arrests after midnight for offenses associated with drinking ? disorderly conduct, assault and drinking and driving ? increased almost 90 percent, from 63 in 2004 to 117 in 2005, Matrangola said.
“With the success of the downtown businesses, they have brought with them a little bit more work for the police department,” Matrangola said.
But he has no complaints.
A grant through the Governor?s Office of Crime Control helped offset the additional manpower costs, and some of the Main Street taverns even helped the town match the grant, he said.
“Anywhere people go to gather, there is going to be a potential need for the police,” said Ropewalk Tavern owner Marc McFaul. “I have had [officers] tell me that they get more calls from [Harford] Mall than [Main Street],” he said.
Mike Leeds, part-owner of Sean Bolen?s Irish Pub, said Bel Air residents who want to drink are going to find a place to do it.
“At least now they have a place to go that is local,” he said.
