CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati greatly restricted access to publicly available Red Bikes and e-scooters in Over The Rhine and the Central Business District Friday night as a method of crime deterrent, according to Cincinnati Police.
The e-scooters shut down and bikes couldn't be removed from their docks beginning at 8 p.m. through 6 a.m. at the city's request.
Paul Jones said the move was disappointing to him as he regularly walks the streets helping homeless and low-income people by distributing food, and he believed the communities rely on the low-cost transportation to get by.
"There's not a Kroger everywhere, and that's what they use," Jones said. "I see them all the time with their groceries and things like that."
Councilman Mark Jeffreys, who's championed the Red Bike's continued existence downtown after the company faced financial issues, said he hoped another solution to crime downtown would be found.
"First, we have to solve this public safety challenge in Downtown and Over the Rhine. Over and out," Jeffreys said.
Billy Watson, owner of Kitty's Sports Grill, shared surveillance video with WCPO showing a group of people riding Red Bikes near his business and, he said, attempting to break into cars in broad daylight.
WATCH: We go one on one with a councilman defending Red Bike
In a long statement, Cincinnati Police Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said much of the policy proposal came after people in the community reported problems stemming from the bikes and officers' first-hand accounts of their use in crimes.
"Just this week, a 15-year-old was seen recklessly riding a red bike, creating safety risks to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. When the teenager fled from officers on the red bike, he was eventually apprehended and found with a loaded, dangerous handgun," Cunningham said.
I asked the councilman if it was still worth fighting to keep the program afloat.
"Oh, 100%," Jeffreys said. "It is a needed transportation service for a lot of people, and we know that for a fact from user data."
In a survey of Red Bike users, nearly three thousand people talked about what they used the services for.
More than 40% said they have used the bikes for groceries, around half indicated they'd used them for daily needs, and around 60%, the most of any use, said they used them to reach social destinations.
Jeffreys said he'd asked City Manager Sheryl Long for data on how the bikes had been used for crime but hadn't seen any data as of Thursday afternoon.
"Let's be data-driven and follow wherever the data takes us," Jeffreys said.
The councilman said he'd like to see a more targeted solution, like banning individual users if they're connected to criminal activity.
"I want to arm our police officers with as many tools as possible. I think there are other ways of resolving this," Jeffreys said.
