CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police say violent crime is down in the last 28 days after a spike in the month of June.
During their now bi-weekly press conference, city officials said data shows a drop in homicides, rapes and robberies over the last 28 days compared to in 2024. However, data provided by police shows burglaries and auto thefts have risen.
Additionally, data shows there are fewer shooting victims year-to-date than in 2024, 2023 and 2022. At this time, Cincinnati has seen 156 shooting victims citywide. In 2024, that number was 201. In July alone, there have been 28 shooting victims compared to 31 last July.
"That is significant. That is some of our end goal, and I'm happy to say we're headed in the right direction," Chief Teresa Theetge said.
While that data shows a positive change, criminal shooting incidents and non-fatal shooting victims are higher than in 2024.
WATCH: City officials give an update on violent crime since CPD's task force started:
Theetge said CPD's current focus "is on stabilizing" numbers.
"When we first reported out to you guys, (violent crime) was on the rise, it was increasing," Theetge said. "If we have a decrease, that's just kind of icing on the cake. Our real true effort was to stabilize and stop the rise."
Theetge linked the decreases in violent crime to the "amazing work" of CPD's new street crime task force, which was announced last month.
Police have also added a detail in one part of Over-the-Rhine, increasing visibility in the afternoons and nights. However, some have questioned the detail's purpose and impact as data shows most violent crime remains in another section of the neighborhood.
Theetge said that detail is "not about the violent crime" but about the "quality of life issues" in Over-the-Rhine, saying the city and residents have committed a lot of effort into the neighborhood and she hopes that the detail will address their concerns.
"This is more about — there is a lot of investment that has been made in OTR. I have been watching it since I was a District 1 captain in 2008. I've seen it grow," Theetge said.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval was also at the press conference Tuesday and said he is calling a special session Wednesday afternoon to vote on a "comprehensive strategy" to address public safety in areas with high crime, specifically Over-the-Rhine and downtown.
The agenda lists priority topics, which include enforcing the citywide curfew, restricting unsupervised minors' access to city parks to 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and expanding the time and "geographic footprint of the 21+ permit at the Banks."
"I think it's important to have a public opportunity for council members to ask questions, tough questions, and really provide a pressure test to strategies that we're deploying," Pureval said. "This is an all-hands-on-deck situation."
In an attempt to address crime in OTR and downtown, the city has already put restrictions on the use of Red Bikes in those areas during weekends. WCPO is told both residents and police raised concerns about how some are riding the bikes to break into cars or property.
Following an introduction of drones in recent incidents, including crowd dispersal at the Banks, the city is officially launching its Drones as First Responders (DFR) program on Friday. Cincinnati will become the first city in the Midwest to do so.
The 117th CPD Recruit class started Monday. 58 recruits are signed up to undergo seven months of rigorous training.
Meanwhile, applications for the city's newly established lateral officer academy class are now open. For the first time, Ohio is allowing CPD, and any other department in the state, to hire full-time, experienced officers from anywhere in the country. Applicants need to have served at least two years as a law enforcement officer.
