CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Police department launched its "holiday task force" in November, for the first time in several years.
The task force is comprised of an extra patrol out in the city from 5 or 6:00 p.m. until the early morning hours. They've been on this patrol since mid-November, and police officials said it's made a big difference in cutting down on crime at the holidays.
"We're seeing some robberies out there that we would historically see due to the nature of the season," said Paul Neudigate, assistant chief of police for Cincinnati PD.
Dozens of officers have been patrolling, providing a more immediate response to crime through active surveillance and investigative efforts.
"They are responding to every robbery, every shots-fired run, every gun run, every shot spotter activation city-wide," said Neudigate.
Neudigate said of the five districts within the city limits of Cincinnati, four have seen a reduction in robberies. Additionally, close to 50 guns have been recovered and more than 40 felony arrests made.
"We're not just out there making a ton of arrests, but the arrests are very focused, they're very strategic," he said.
The holidays are nearing an end, though, and once they're over the task force will be dissolved. However, Neudigate said, that doesn't mean CPD's efforts will scale back.
"Just because the task force will be dissolved doesn’t mean the great work we do 365 days, 24/7 is not ongoing," he said.
