CINCINNATI — Efforts to increase police visibility in Cincinnati's urban core and reduce crime began at the start of summer, but have steadily expanded since then, following a violent fight that took place at the intersection of 4th and Elm streets on July 26.
Mayor Aftab Pureval detailed exactly how those efforts have played out during a press conference held at his office on Wednesday.
"Visibility for our law enforcement in our urban core has been a top priority for us since the beginning of summer," said Pureval.
The Cincinnati Police Department has increased patrols for officers on foot, on bicycles and officers with the department's Civil Disturbance Response Team (CDRT) and SWAT teams. This is all in addition to the creation of a new task force focused on street-level crimes.
In addition to regular Cincinnati police patrols, Cincinnati has added walking patrols manned by both CPD and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office has been contracted to help bolster patrols; Pureval said the city is paying the county for the service, which will help with patrols around Court Street specifically.
"Which is a good synergy with the sheriff's department because so many county buildings of which they are responsible for security are in the court street area," said Pureval.
The additional patrols are in the afternoon and evening in the following areas:
- The Banks
- Fourth Street
- Fountain Square
- Court Street
- Washington Park
- Ziegler Park
- Main Street
- Vine Street
- Race and Liberty streets
Two bike patrol officers will handle patrolling the Fountain Square District, Pureval said. Two Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputies will patrol around Court Street in the afternoons and evenings.
Two CPD officers will also patrol on Vine Street. There will be two officers patrolling around Ziegler Park, except on Mondays through Wednesdays, when there will be one officer in the area.
On Main Street, two CPD officers will patrol the area in the afternoon and evening.
One officer will be assigned to patrol Washington Park.
Pureval stressed these patrols are for all seven days of the week.
But that's not the only increased police presence people might see Downtown or in Over-the-Rhine now.
"Every single weekend during the summer and throughout the year, we deploy CDRT and SWAT at The Banks," said Pureval. "From The Banks, they leave some officers at The Banks and they travel north. Now, after the unfortunate fight on 4th Street, one of our responses is increasing their geographic footprint to now also include 4th Street."
Pureval said the CDRT and SWAT officers will patrol high-traffic areas during peak evening hours.
Those areas include:
- The Banks
- Fourth Street
- Fountain Square
- Main Street
- Republic Street
On weekends, the two teams will move throughout the city's urban core. Pureval said now, on weekends they begin at The Banks. They then leave some officers behind at The Banks, while the rest patrol north to 4th Street. Some officers stay behind at 4th Street before the teams patrol further north to Fountain Square.
Officers are again left at Fountain Square as the rest of the CDRT, SWAT and task force move north once more, to Main Street.
The newly-formed street crime task force has also been asked to pay particular attention to the area of Race Street and Liberty Street, Pureval said. Those officers will patrol every two hours in the afternoons and evenings all week.
"It's a new task force that the chief, through her leadership, has impaneled," said Pureval. "She started this task force, as you can see, the week of June 23. This task force is staffed by officers from various districts' violent crime squad. They target emerging hot spot crime areas using data and it's a mixture of undercover assets and uniformed police."
WATCH: Mayor Pureval addresses Cincinnati crime and the city's public safety plan
The task force is designed to specifically target what Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge has called "quality of life crimes."
Pureval said those crimes can be traffic issues, drug use, loud music, gambling and other persistent issues.
3CDC will also have ambassador and supervisory staff working at all 3CDC-managed garages 24/7, the mayor said. The developer stated it will also give CPD access to its entire camera system in the Central Business District and Over-the-Rhine.
In addition, Pureval spoke about Gov. Mike DeWine's offer of additional Ohio State Highway Patrol resources to free up CPD resources, saying OSHP will patrol the highways for traffic enforcement to allow Cincinnati officers to focus on violent crimes.
The city will also utilize OSHP's aerial surveillance to support CPD's street crimes task force and partner with the state to address parole violations.
Pureval noted Cincinnati City Council has also allocated $2 million from the city's General Fund Contingency Account that is meant to support police recruitment classes, overtime, technology updates (including on lighting and surveillance cameras) and additional 3CDC ambassadors.
