CINCINNATI — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering cash rewards for information that helps curb recent rises in gun violence in Cincinnati.
"Cincinnati communities are facing a surge in violent crime — especially gun-related offenses," reads a press release from the ATF Columbus Field Division. "This violence must be stopped and the public's help is critical."
The press release says the ATF, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Cincinnati Police Department, is offering cash rewards of up to $2,500 for information that leads to the arrest of "violent offenders or the recovery of illegally possessed firearms."
Tips can be submitted anonymously by phone at 1.888.283.8477, by email at ATFTips@atf.gov or online.
The press release from the ATF does not go into further detail about how prevalent the issue of stolen guns may be in Cincinnati, but it's an issue Cincinnati police officials have been talking about in recent years.
At the end of last year, there were several larger-scale gun thefts from stores around the Greater Cincinnati area. In August, four juveniles were arrested after crashing a vehicle into a Union Township gun store and stealing multiple firearms.
In November, ATF officials also offered a $10,000 reward for information after a group crashed a vehicle into a Norwood pawn shop before breaking into the business and stealing multiple guns.
In 2023, during a presentation to city council members, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge and Jillian Desmond, CPD's senior crime analyst, said car thefts and burglaries had been up that year — and so were incidences of gun thefts from those vehicles.
During that presentation, Desmond said Cincinnati had roughly 650 stolen guns between January and November of that year in around 300 separate incidents.
One month later, Cincinnati council introduced ordinances that aimed to create harsher penalties around stolen guns — specifically for the original owners of those guns.
