CINCINNATI — After a summer marked by violence and community concerns, data shows downtown Cincinnati has seen significant improvements in public safety.
Overall crime dropped 31% in July from a June peak and has been steadily declining every month since.
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey, Cincinnati Police Interim Chief Adam Hennie and State Patrol Colonel Charles Jones spoke about their joint efforts to reduce crime in downtown Cincinnati during a Thursday morning press conference.
It marked the first time McGuffey had spoken directly about her office's specific contributions to the downtown safety initiative.
McGuffey said the purpose of the press conference was to highlight collaborative efforts between the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the Cincinnati Police Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol to curb crime in Cincinnati.
"We are creating a model, a model of collaboration," McGuffey said. "As police agencies struggle with recruitment, as we struggle with having the numbers of people that we would like to have — boots on the ground — to support these efforts. We're struggling in that arena and we know it, the public knows it, and by joining forces, we are force multipliers."
While all three agencies have always collaborated in the past, this most recent effort is more targeted specifically toward impacting crime rates downtown, Interim Police Chief Adam Hennie said.
You can watch the full press conference in the player below:
"Please know that we've been doing this probably as long as I've been a law enforcement officer here in Cincinnati," Hennie said.
In the past 15 days operating as a targeted collaboration, McGuffey said the collaborative agencies gave almost 200 warnings to people, while still making arrests and confiscating illegal drugs and guns.
In all, McGuffey said law enforcement agencies made seven misdemeanor arrests, eight felony arrests and recovered three stolen vehicles. The agencies have also recovered six guns, McGuffey said.
"And those are guns that we are legally able to seize because people are carrying them illegally," said McGuffey. "And we understand what gun violence will do to our city and our county and we want to prevent that gun violence and this is one of the strategies that we have to do this."
The collaborative effort isn't just between the OSHP, CPD and the sheriff's office — McGuffey said the three agencies have also spoken with judges in the city and county. That further collaboration has resulted in what could be an incoming effort to provide amnesty for some who face warrants.
"There are thousands of outstanding warrants in this city and county," McGuffey said. "And many of those warrants are traffic-related. Some of them — many of them — are minor misdemeanor or misdemeanor warrants and what we have collectively sat down and talked about with the judges is to create a type of amnesty day, program, week, where people who have minor misdemeanor warrants that are more than 10 years old. I mean, many of these are aged, right, and let's get those things cleared up for people without the consequences of incarceration, without the consequences of fines and people having to lose money in this arena."
She said the hope behind that is that it allows more people to feel free to walk around in the city, without having to hide from law enforcement over a decades-old offense.
"People walk away with that sense of freedom, then, right?" McGuffey said. "That, hey, I don't have to fear approaching a law enforcement officer. And, oftentimes, when people carry warrants like this around, they tend to want to run from police, because they don't know and they don't want to be incarcerated, and I understand that."
McGuffey said the purpose of holding Thursday's press conference was to connect with the public and give them a better idea of what's happening with law enforcement efforts; she conceded that, often, police do not speak out much about the process behind what they do.
But this collaboration is here to stay for awhile, McGuffey said.
"This is the long game, and we're in it and we're gonna stay in it," she said.
McGuffey previously spoke briefly at an Aug. 1 press conference announcing new partnerships to crack down on crime, but did not detail how the sheriff's office would provide support.
"I'm proud to continue a strong partnership with the city," McGuffey said at the press conference. "Every resident who lives or works in this city will feel the impact."
The partnership with the city has included a variety of new efforts, including increased police presence.
At an August press conference, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said that deputies would help Cincinnati police officers with walking patrols in designated areas of downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
At that time, two deputies were tasked with manning Court Street in the afternoons and evenings.
WATCH: Reported crime in downtown Cincinnati has been on a steady decline since June
"It doesn't feel like there's an officer on every corner; however, I think we're seeing a marked increase in perception of safety downtown. People look around. They see police officers, they see our sheriffs walking or on bike patrols. They're approachable. They're talking to residents. They're going into businesses," said Adam Naab, who serves as president of the Downtown Residents Council.
The Cincinnati Police Department deployed a new street-crime task force the week of June 23, using Police Visibility Overtime and directing extra patrols in hotspot neighborhoods through July and August. After a high-visibility downtown fight on July 26, the city expanded SWAT and Community Disorder Response Team presence at weekend events and stepped up curfew enforcement.
The city also rolled out drones as first responders and expanded aerial support beginning in late June, while implementing targeted restrictions on red bike and e-scooter availability in Over-the-Rhine and the Central Business District as crime prevention measures.
City Council approved $150,000 for West End camera expansion in September, part of broader technology investments.
The comprehensive strategy included prevention work through expanded summer youth programming, including Rec @ Nite and park partnerships running from early June into August.
State and federal partnerships to assist local enforcement were announced publicly on Sept. 9, with Gov. DeWine and city partners detailing funding moves for overtime, cameras and other resources approved by the council.
The efforts have faced some criticism, with residents and community leaders saying there was too much focus on downtown and Over-the-Rhine rather than other neighborhoods. Some civic groups have accused officials of "cherry-picking" data to highlight successes.
Implementation challenges remain, including staffing shortages and debates over enforcement versus prevention approaches that will affect long-term results.
While pleased with the progress, Naab said he hopes leaders can maintain the momentum beyond the typical summer crime spike.
"How do we ensure this isn't just a short-term fix on a longer-term problem when we know that every summer we see a crime spike in our neighborhood?" Naab said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
