CINCINNATI — Cincinnati city leaders are continuing to examine how shutting down nuisance businesses impacts violent crime.
For years, we've covered how city leaders have focused on some bars and hookah lounges they say contribute to crime.
During Tuesday's Public Safety and Quality of Life Committee meeting, Mark Manning with the city's law department shared insight into those decisions.
“What we’re trying to get to the core of is, how is this business contributing or detracting from the bad things that are happening outside of the business?" Manning said.
WATCH: Residents debate whether closing nuisance properties fixes problems with violent crime
It comes as the city's annual liquor license renewal period closes in.
Manning explained to council members how the city handles complaints against businesses considered a nuisance.
Just last month, the city filed a lawsuit against In Between Tavern downtown. In the lawsuit, the city alleges the business is a public nuisance and is partly to blame for some shootings.
The bar's owner told us at the time that there was no reason to shut his bar down. He said the city is blaming his business because "they're not doing their job."
“Those business owners need to make sure that they are providing a service in which it’s safe and everybody is respected there," Cincinnati council member Scotty Johnson said.
Johnson said the city wants businesses to thrive, but in a responsible way.
“If those establishments don’t come into compliance, then you know, maybe you’re better somewhere else outside the city of Cincinnati," Johnson said.
In 2023, the Save-Way Super Market in the West End was closed after the city sued the market, alleging employees encouraged and profited from the sale of illegal narcotics in and around the store.
Manning presented data showing how crime around the market went down following the closure.
It showed a 36% decrease in urgent calls for service at and near the market between 2023 and 2024.
“The thing that was actually driving the activity was the business itself," Manning said.
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However, not everyone agrees that closing businesses will lead to less violent crime.
Noah O'Brien, an executive board member of the West End Community Council, met us outside where the market once stood.
The vacant building is now covered in graffiti, with trash littering the property.
"What's the plan?" O'Brien said. "To allow it to be this?"
He said getting rid of the market didn't solve the problem, but rather moved the crime elsewhere.
"We still have all of the root causes that create the blight, create the crime," O'Brien said.
O'Brien said focusing on nuisance properties might lead to a quick fix, but he told us he believes the real issue is much deeper.
He said city leaders and police need to focus on creating a healthy environment for kids and cracking down on things like the open-air drug market.
“You can’t just close all of the businesses and think that you’re actually changing any behaviors," O'Brien said. "Cause you can go right around this corner right now and film the behaviors.”
