CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati has outlined the assistance it would like from the state, weeks after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine first offered Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) resources to address violent crime.
Police Chief Teresa Theetge, Mayor Aftab Pureval and City Manager Sheryl Long wrote in a letter to DeWine on Aug. 18 that the following measures would help Cincinnati's ongoing safety plan:
- Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) assistance with traffic enforcement on local interstates;
- OSHP aerial support for Cincinnati police investigations;
- Liquor permit compliance, inspection and enforcement help from the Ohio Investigative Unit and;
- Continued sharing of evidence and intelligence with the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center.
The letter also noted the city is looking to work with the ODPS on its plan to address violent offender warrant enforcement and post-release control compliance.
"The issue is a high priority for the city and we look forward to learning more about the current process so we can best determine how to assist the ODRC in their mission to provide the citizens of Cincinnati the safest environment possible when it comes to monitoring violent criminals upon release in our region and quickly apprehending those that have not complied with the conditions of such release," the letter says.
In mid-February, Mordecia Black cut off his ankle monitor and fled a halfway house while on parole after serving nine years for felony assault and rioting. City leaders said they were never directly notified that Black violated parole, with officers seeing the hits months later while entering his name into a database while responding to a domestic disturbance.
The 38-year-old was not arrested until June, after he fatally stabbed Over-the-Rhine gym owner Patrick Heringer in his home.
Additionally, one of the men arrested in a violent downtown fight that garnered national attention on July 26 had been out on bond at the time of the incident.
"One of the people involved ... shouldn't have been out, really," DeWine said while discussing state help after the fight. "He was out on bond, but really the bond was ... equivalent to $400, so he was out, but he had possession of a stolen gun, so a guy like this never should be out."
The letter did not specify when some of these measures would take effect.
