The bars may be a sea of green for St. Patrick’s Day, but the men and women in blue are not planning a higher presence than usual in Kent’s downtown.

Police and fire departments, both on and off campus, are not expecting anything out of the ordinary today and have not taken any measures to suggest otherwise.

“St. Patrick’s Day is typically a business as usual day,” said Lt. Jayme Cole of the Kent Police Department. “We will have regular, full-time staffing.”

Cole added that there may be a higher volume of calls than a regular Tuesday, but nothing the staff can’t handle.

Campus and city police had considerably fewer arrests in 2008 when the holiday was celebrated during the university’s spring break. Police arrested only 13 people on St. Patrick’s Day last year compared to the 28 during the 2007 celebration.

A significant amount of the arrests on March 17 are for disorderly conduct. The runners-up include party noise, drunken driving and offenses involving underage drinking.

Safety Director Bill Lillich said there will be staff out in the area, but he has no major concerns.

“It gets a little bit rowdy,” Lillich said. “But people are usually in a good mood for St. Patrick’s Day.”

St. Patrick’s Day is still a regular business day and to avoid problems Lillich suggested using alternative transportation such as the bus.

Contact public affairs reporter Caitlyn Wachovec at [email protected].