MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — When we talked with Middletown Police Chief Earl Nelson two weeks after his appointment to lead the department, he reflected on a violent summer and told us his plan to keep the city from experiencing the same thing this summer.
He planned to recruit officers to fill the department's ranks and increase visible patrols in the community.
In June 2025, as temperatures reached the upper 80s, we revisited the chief and asked if his plans had changed.
"Things have been going well," Nelson said. "We're moving through, progressing well with the plan that I wanted to put in action when I was first appointed."
WATCH: We go one-on-one with Police Chief Earl Nelson to talk summer safety
Nelson said recruitment has been steady, and each new officer is being directed to street patrol to increase officer visibility.
"Any new officers we get, it's all visible patrol," he said. "We're not allocating the resources in any other area of our department than visible patrol."
In addition to officers on the street, Middletown police are converting the old Fire Station 82 building into a sub-station to increase police presence in the East End.
The department also plans to take advantage of a recently awarded $61,000 grant to purchase a dozen more Flock cameras for surveillance, as originally reported by WCPO's partners at the Journal News.
The license plate reading cameras track all plates passing by and flag law enforcement in real time of potential criminal connections.
"That alerts our officers that there's a stolen car at this Flock camera, at this location, and they can get there quickly," Nelson said.
Nelson said the 12 new static cameras and a mobile trailer-based camera will join 29 others already in use by the city.
The chief also acknowledged the police department couldn't deter crime alone.
He pointed to volunteers at The HopeLine as an example of wraparound services that partner with his officers to help people in the community.
Victoria Hensley, the program's care coordinator, said they join police officers three times a week and paramedics once a week to meet the region's homeless population and direct them to services or assistance that can help them off the streets.
"Just eliminate all of the barriers that we can for them," Hensley said. "If it's transportation, ID, birth certificate, they don't have insurance, we're going to find that provider that's going to care for you."
Henlsey said the Crossroads Church in Mason coordinates their volunteer efforts, and donations through their website can help them continue operations.
