CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police and activists said they’ve noticed a difference in teenage behavior downtown months after violent attacks grabbed the community's attention.
“We’ve noticed significant changes,” Police Captain Adam Hennie said.
Hennie said teens acting out downtown has been a problem for years, but community members being down at a popular bus stop has had a positive impact.
Andrew Williams and the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio has been at the station every day after school. He said they started showing up with Iris Roley, project manager with Cincinnati Black United Front, in February to hand out information on various job opportunities and mental health resources. It's gone so well, he said 3CDC wants to work with them this summer.
“In partnership with 3CDC they said 'Hey, we may need some help down here this summer.' They like the work that was done down here on the government square so they said 'How can we continue that work?' And that’s what we're looking to do this summer,” Williams said.
He said the Urban League is connecting 100 teenagers they met at Government Square with jobs. Roley said some of them have already started.
"We know that a number of people went to the Reds, that several people were hired there," Roley said. "There were a number of people who took part in the mental health stuff we passed out. There was a program through the Albert House and the Urban League to pay for tutoring."
Roley said they’ve gained a lot of trust just by showing up.
“We saw that a lot of people were responsive to the information. You have to provide it to the children in order for them to get it,” Roley said.
She said she has learned a lot from them in the past couple of months.
“I learned that they want to be part of the solution. I learned that not all of them are down here trying to create chaos,” she said.
Hennie agrees with Roley. He said it’s only a small percentage of the teens who come downtown and cause problems.
He said that activists taking a leading role has also allowed to CPD to still be in the area, but in the background.
“What we’re trying to do now is just find some other solutions and partnerships, and one of the great things that Iris and her team has been able to do is bring these individuals down here that can connect with these young people and have more of a positive interaction,” he said.
Hennie said he believes the positive changes downtown will have a cascading effect.
“Not only do I think it’s positively helping us out downtown, but I think all of our neighborhoods are going to benefit from this,” Hennie said.
Williams said they also started a new program at Fountain Square called Feed and Seed in partnership with CityBird. He said they started it after they began talking with teenagers at Government Square.
“Every Wednesday, at 4 p.m. we do Feed and Seed on Fountain Square where we invite the children and the teens of the city that are passing through downtown to come sit with us in fellowship, eat,” Williams said.
He said these types of interactions build trust and shows them how to act when they enter businesses downtown.
“We need to work with the kids to make sure they’re doing what they need to do when they do come down here,” he said.
Roley said she’s happy to see some recreation centers staying open late and all of the pools opening back up. She’s also excited about the new youth managers advisory council that the city is forming to hear directly from young people.
“We’re talking about public safety issues as well and it will be refreshing to have youth, young, genius minds at the table,” said Roley.
