Dear Friend,

 

Common sense rule: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Translation: if something's working, continue doing it.

 

Even better rule: if something's working, continue it, and expand it elsewhere.

 

When it comes to progress in Over the Rhine in recent years, that's exactly what we should do--continue what is working, and expand this untold success to other parts of the City and County.  Through the Comprehensive Safety Plan and other steps, that's exactly what we hope to do.

 

The Good News: A Successful Formula in OTR

 

One of the most impressive (and under-reported) developments in the community in recent years is the precipitous drop in crime in Over the Rhine.  Just look at the numbers:

-         In 2006 versus 2005, Part 1 Crimes (the most serious crimes), homicides, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and auto thefts all fell in Over the Rhine.

-         The trend has continued in the first half of 2007, such that, compared to 2005, the following has occurred:

o       Part 1 Crimes: down 37%

o       Homicides: down 60%

o       Robberies: down 33%

o       Aggravated Assaults: down 44%

o       Burglaries: down 10%

o       Auto thefts: down 45%

 

A number of efforts have played a role in this progress, with many people deserving credit:

 

• Greater Police Presence: beginning in mid-2006, the Cincinnati Police Vortex Unit and County Sheriff's Patrols have together provided a greatly enhanced street presence since the middle of 2006.
• Smart Policing: the City, County and Over the Rhine Chamber of Commerce have supported the Drug and Gun Initiative over the past four years, which is taking numerous guns and drugs off the streets through surveillance and other strategic approaches
• Community-Based Probation: at City Hall, I worked with numerous communities to advocate the expansion of probation substations in neighborhoods, a best practice in keeping people who are on probation on the right track and away from criminal behavior.  One such substation opened in Over the Rhine last year, and is operating effectively.
• Economic and neighborhood development: not to be overlooked as a factor in the progress is the hard work of 3CDC in purchasing some of the worst, most crime-ridden abandoned properties in Over the Rhine, and investing in those buildings' rehabilitation.  We know how much cleaning up blighted properties can deter crime.
• Community Involvement: The Over the Rhine Chamber of Commerce, Over the Rhine Community Council, and groups like Citizens on Patrol and organizers such as Markets on Main St., have all been incredibly active in fighting for safer, viable streets.
• Ending Early Releases: Having enough jailspace (through the Butler County contract) has meant that when law enforcement makes arrests in Over the Rhine and elsewhere, the sentences stick for a change.

 

There are other factors at play as well.  But this mix of concentrated efforts is clearly leading to incredibly impressive results.

 

The lessons:

 

This formula for success must continue in Over the Rhine and elsewhere.  One challenge is simply continuing the success: several of the most effective elements, such as the Sheriff's Patrols and Butler County contract, are very expensive, and have been funded out of the County's reserve fund, which is now depleted.  One of the goals of the Comprehensive Safety Plan is to put these important measures on sounder, long-term and more strategic, Countywide footing.  Our plan is to permanently sustain these measures, and expand them elsewhere, by:

 

• Expanding Sheriff's Patrols: We will fund Sheriff's Patrols in Over the Rhine for the next ten years, as well as provide a second unit of concentrated patrols which can respond to requests for help from throughout the County.
• Increasing Police Presence Countywide: The County will take on a much greater share of individual cities' and townships' emergency communication costs (ie., their 911 calls, which cost them $14 for every call).  By saving them money, we will allow each of them to put more police on the street, as has happened in OTR.
• Expanding Probation Substations: Picking up on my work at City Hall, and the success of the OTR substation, we will continue working with the Courthouse and Probation Department, who are leading the way to expand probation substations to other neighborhoods in the County, such as Price Hill, Avondale, and College Hill/Northside.
• Economic Development: We are working closely with First Suburbs communities, and all neighborhoods, to devise strategies to remove blight, and reinvest in buildings that are run down and leading to crime.
• Solving Overcrowding: Rather than stopgap solutions, we are proposing a long-term fix to the overcrowding of County jailspace, which will solve the problem in a much more effective and efficient way than the "band-aids" of recent decades.

 

Finally, something is working.  While there is so much work to do, in a neighborhood that has seen problems for so long, we finally see some light at the end of the tunnel, and a formula that works. 

 

Let's do everything we can to learn from this success, and bring it to communities countywide.

 

David