CINCINNATI — While discussing the city's latest safety efforts, Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge said violent crime overall had been down this year before a surge in the last 28 days. Data backs Theetge's claims, but it also shows an uptick for all reported crimes — something one Over-the-Rhine man said he's noticed firsthand.
Chris Lewis was a victim of a crime in 2023 and said he feels crime in the area has been going in the wrong direction for years.
"They presented that data as if no one could have seen it coming — reported crime has been increasing in OTR, downtown and the West End," Lewis said.
We looked into his claims by examining Cincinnati Police Department crime data for those three neighborhoods. From 2022 to 2023, crime went up 12.8% in the three neighborhoods combined. From 2023 to 2024, it then went up 10.2%, and so far this year, it's up 36.3%. When it comes to violent crime, OTR and downtown are up over a three-year average.
CPD data lists charges like homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and strangulation as violent crime. Other offenses, like simple assault or property crimes, are not included.
You can see the latest neighborhood crime reports here.
Lewis said his life was forever changed when three teens attacked him on Elm and Liberty.
"I was walking down this street and all of a sudden I saw some movement and I heard some scuffling to the left. They struck me in the eye before I had any sense of what was happening," Lewis said.
After five surgeries, Lewis said he never regained sight in his left eye and now wears a prosthetic. CPD never arrested the people who did this to him.
"This has sort of disabled me and hurt me in such a life-altering way," Lewis said.
Watch our interview with Chris Lewis to hear his powerful story and his message to city leaders:
During a press conference on Tuesday, city officials detailed new initiatives and programs to improve safety and address the recent crime spike. This includes adding more officers to all four of CPD's Violence Crime Squad (VCS) units. Theetge also stressed the need to hire more police officers and utilize drones to assist with crowd control and dispersal.
"We have seen an unacceptable rise in crime," Mayor Aftab Pureval said during the announcement.
While he applauded Theetge's message about holding parents of teenagers more accountable, hiring more police officers and utilizing technology to help fight violent crime, Lewis said he feels CPD and the city need to prioritize public safety in the city's urban core.
"They spend a lot of time claiming accountability, but I don't know how you can claim accountability and then show me a 28-day window of May that was exceptionally rainy and say that we didn't see this coming," said Lewis.
