CINCINNATI — Gov. Mike DeWine said the state's partnership with the City of Cincinnati announced last week in an attempt to prevent violent crime is currently limited to two days a month.
The governor said that the city agreed to take all of the help the state offered, but the partnership is limited to two days per month initially with the hope it is later expanded.
"What I'm hoping is that they'll see the benefit of this and enable us to expand that beyond two days a month ," DeWine told us.
WATCH: Here's what DeWine and city officials said at the time of the announcement
We previously reported on the safety plan the state and city agreed to, which includes:
- Ohio State Highway Patrol and Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Corrections working alongside police in joint operations;
- OSHP assistance with traffic enforcement to free up CPD officers;
- OSHP aerial support for police investigations and;
- Ohio Investigative Unit help with enforcing alcohol laws, paying attention to liquor establishments in high-crime areas in the city.
DeWine said that he believes the "surges" will be effective and the city will see results, but he is hopeful the city will want additional days after seeing the impact.
"In a two-day surge in, we'll get some people. We'll get people off the streets that shouldn't be on the streets. ... Could we do more beyond two days? Of course," the governor said.
We asked the governor what the other cities the state previously worked with requested, and he said they wanted the state to come in "as much as we are able to come in."
He emphasized that the surges take a concerted effort between the state and local police, and cannot happen every single day.
We reached out to the mayor's office for comment on the decision and have not heard back at this time.
