CINCINNATI — Calls for service regarding youth increased in 2024, the Cincinnati Police Department told a city council committee Wednesday.
Dr. Jillian Desmond, a senior analyst with CPD, said 2024 data shows youth were more involved with robberies and shoplifting in 2024 than in years prior.
Except for December, every month last year had slightly more calls for service than 2023 and 2022.
To be clear, not every call for service means a crime has been committed.
One key factor identified in the department’s analysis is an increase in 911 calls from areas surrounding transit centers, such as Government Square (+71%) and Oakley Station (+70%).
The data is time-sensitive, meaning call volume typically picks up for two to three hours from the time school lets out, Desmond said.
CPD Youth Involvement in Crime by webeditors on Scribd
Moreover, the police analysts said they discovered a connection between the transit centers and the schools. Desmond said they analyzed a one-block radius around the schools and found students were hanging out, waiting for their bus and getting into fights.
For the first time, CPD said that parents also appeared to play a role in some of these incidents.
"So, bringing their kids back to the scene where there are a lot of students because they want their kid to stand up for themselves,” Desmond said. “In some cases, parents are actually fighting kids themselves. So that is something that is different than what we saw last year."
Police Chief Theresa Theetge said police were surprised to discover parents were involved with the fights.
Hear more from the police chief here:
"Now we've got to tell the parents not to come in here and try to start a fight between the kids," she said.
Youth service officers and school resource officers are working through dealing with that, Theetge said.
She also said she has approved a request by the district two captain to have two bike officers specifically assigned in the Oakley Station area.
The data presentation comes after more than a year of consistent efforts by community advocates to reduce violence around Government Square and other transit hubs.
Advocates have been showing up daily to help engage students.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney applauded those advocates for their engagement with students and said the city is looking to see what other opportunities can occupy young people.
“Just getting on the bus and going home, that’s not enough. I mean, we really need activities for them, but we really need jobs,” she said.
Kearney challenged local businesses to open their doors to young job seekers.
Last month, city leadersintroduced a new initiative to prevent gun violence in Cincinnati, combining five different strategies — many of which are already used — to address the issue.
Act for Cincy combines programs like economic development, counseling, youth programs and police intervention under one umbrella.
Desmond said youth behavior is contributing to the city’s higher numbers of aggravated assaults and robberies.
Overall, violent crime in Cincinnati rose 4% in 2024. However, the numbers remain lower than those recorded in 2019.
Shootings are down 6.3%. Aggravated assaults are up 8.6%.
“Our shootings are going down, our gun violence is going down, while some of our other types of aggravated assaults are going up,” Desmond said.
See the full data breakdown, including response times analysis, in the full presentation below:
CPD 2024 Data Review by webeditors on Scribd
Councilmember Scotty Johnson said the lack of officers on the force must be addressed.
“That would have an effect on a lot of different things,” Johnson said. “Yes, we have a recruit class in, but we got people retiring as quick as we can hire."
There are 921 officers in the Cincinnati Police Department. That’s nearly 300 fewer than 2002, when there were 1208 officers, according to Ken Kober, president of Cincinnati's Fraternal Order of Police.
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