CINCINNATI — Cincinnati city leaders announced Wednesday that they'll expand city-provided activities and programming for youth while continuing to adapt the Cincinnati Police Department's strategies, all in the hopes of curbing crime this summer.
Interim Cincinnati Police Chief Adam Hennie said CPD's summer safety strategy includes four pillars: visibility, technology, investigations, and collaboration. It is near-identical to last year's summer safety plan.
"Summer activities, police strategies expanding this summer in hopes of curbing crime," Hennie said. "To ensure that we provide the best services we can throughout the summer."
WATCH: Here is how city leaders plan to curb crime this summer
Hennie announced CPD expanded its bike unit, which patrols areas of the city on bikes, to 16 officers. The bike unit will focus on Over-The-Rhine and the Central Business District, along with other walking patrols this summer. Hennie said that compared to last April, the number of walking patrols this April has increased by more than 440%, but he did not provide an actual figure.
"This unit is obviously very mobile, and we're able to utilize them in different events, different neighborhoods throughout the city," Hennie said. "We're able to deploy them very quickly."
On the technology front, police will continue to utilize drones and other cameras to monitor the city "24/7."
"I want you to understand the importance of this 24/7 crime center and just reiterate to you what they do," Hennie said. "Currently, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we have officers and techs monitoring cameras throughout the whole city. We have drones that are able to fly and cover 90% of the city."
City leaders highlighted the Summer in Cincy program and the activities available through Cincinnati Recreation Centers and the Cincinnati Parks Department this summer.
Tiffany Stewart with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission announced that Rec at Nite will expand its programs to four new recreation centers this summer:
- Evanston
- Winton Hills
- Lincoln
- Hirsch
The events will again be held — for free — every Saturday night, giving kids access to swimming, sports, e-sports, music, and more, Stewart said.
In addition, for the second year in a row, city officials said all 24 of Cincinnati's public pools will open this summer.
At Cincinnati parks, there will be summer camp opportunities, and the teen skate nights at Sawyer Point will expand to even more weeks than last summer.
Jason Barron with Cincinnati Parks said last year the teen skate events were held for 13 weeks, during which over 1,500 teens attended throughout the summer. Barron said around 70% of teens attending that event lived within a handful of miles of Sawyer Point and came from households making under $50,000.
City Manager Sheryl Long said while these activities are happening, the city's curfew for youth will remain in place; that curfew begins at 9 p.m. in the city's urban core and at 11 p.m. elsewhere in the city.
WATCH: Community members react to summer safety plan and the breakdown of city spending on curfew enforcement
Curfew centers will be utilized this summer, city leaders said, on Friday and Saturday nights. Last summer, if someone under 18 broke curfew, officers may have taken the minor to the curfew center at Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, where staff would then take up the job of contacting the child's parent or guardian. The facility had food, water, and a safe place for kids to wait until a parent or guardian could be contacted.
The city allocated $380,000 to run the two facilities. But Long told council, when last asked by council members in September of 2025 about the numbers, that not a single young person was brought to either site.
“At the end of the day, we need to understand that everybody understands there is a curfew," Long said. "The curfew is active in the city. When there was conversation about the cost of that, I really do feel that undermined our efforts… what we did see is a drastic drop … of how many kids and how they were navigating our city.”
According to our news partner WVXU, the city is currently under contract with Seven Hills for up to $182,000 and Lighthouse for up to $192,772. The contracts expire after August 2026, so no additional fiscal allocation is needed.
The Summer in Cincy program isn't new. Last year, city officials announced the idea and detailed its rollout, which included an expansion of Rec at Nite events in Cincinnati rec centers, summer camps and opening all of the city's public pools for the first summer in years.
Each year, crime in Cincinnati rises during the summer months, but it's not a problem that's specific to Cincinnati. National data from the FBI shows that nationwide crime and violent crime uptick each year in the summer months, then drop off significantly around October.
In Cincinnati, the data trend is no different: Each year brings a rise in crime that starts in May and lasts until roughly October.
Despite several high-profile incidents captured on video during the summer of 2025, last year saw a drop in shootings overall compared with the two prior years. According to Cincinnati Police Department data on CincyInsights, there were 313 shootings in the city of Cincinnati in 2023. That dropped to 296 shootings in all of 2024. Then, in 2025, there were 241 shootings.
So far this year, as of April 30, there have been 69 shootings.
Some community members, like anti-violence advocate Mitch Morris, say they support the expanded presence and initiatives but acknowledge there is no single solution.
“You’re talking about human lives, man,” Morris said. “It’s not going to be no one or two things that’s going to make it happen. Try anything. I’ve seen so much pain, so many parents that lost their child to gun violence.”
