CINCINNATI — As police drive down crime in the city year after year, officials are pointing to Avondale as one of their biggest recent success stories.
Police released new data Monday showing crime in the city down again in 2018 for the eighth straight year. The entire city experienced a 9 percent drop in all crime between 2017 and 2018.
According to the department, overall crime in the city has dropped 33 percent in the past eight years.
One of the contributors is Avondale, which is reporting record drops in crime.
“We’ve seen huge reductions in Avondale specifically. I think that’s been very pleasing for us,” said Lt. Col. Michael John. “We saw the reductions basically begin in 2016."
When asked what is working there, John pointed to two things.
"There’s been a lot of redevelopment there,” John said.
Police say development projects are a sign of success for a neighborhood and help continue to build positive momentum, which keep crime numbers down.
More importantly, though, John said the police department’s relationship with the Avondale community is getting stronger.
“The biggest thing of all is really that collaboration with the community. Getting the community to come forward, to partner with us, to be that force multiplier,” John said.
Westwood and Price Hill are also seeing drops in crime for similar reasons, according to police.
Police Chief Eliot Isaac talked about the department’s strategy in an interview with WCPO last week. Isaac said violent crime is the department’s main focus.
Overall, violent crime dropped more than 17 percent in the city in 2018.
“We definitely like to see violent crime go down, particularly shootings. Anytime we can protect life and people becoming seriously injured, that’s certainly our number one priority,” the chief said.
“We really focus on our priority offenders - those individuals that we know are committing this violent crime,” Isaac said.
