CINCINNATI — Cincinnati will no longer be divided into five policing districts, the department announced on Tuesday.
Once the changes go into effect, District 5 will be no more; it will be split in two and merged into districts 3 and 4. Other neighborhoods will also shift from one district to another to accommodate, based on data collected on neighborhoods.
"We will shift from five total districts to four at the end of the year," said Sheryl Long, Cincinnati city manager. "This is the best permanent solution for the department."
Specifically, the redistricting affects 11 of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods:
- College Hill will move from D5 to D3
- Mt. Airy will move from D5 to D3
- Northside will move from D5 to D3
- Camp Washington will move from D5 to D3
- Winton Hills will move from D5 to D4
- Spring Grove Village will move from D5 to D4
- Clifton will move from D5 to D4
- CUF will move from D5 to D1
- Mt. Auburn will move from D4 to D1
- Walnut Hills will move from D4 to D2
- Mt. Adams will move from D1 to the Central Business District
"Many many years ago, we had seven districts in this city and then we went down to six and then down to five and now it's time to go down to four," said Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge.
The change is not happening immediately — District 5 officers won't begin migrating to their new assignments until closer toward the end of the year, Theetge said.
District 5 has struggled to find a home over the years, since its move to a shopping center in College Hill in 2018 that was supposed to be temporary. Before that, the district operated out of a building on Ludlow Avenue — another location that was intended to be temporary, but instead became District 5's home for more than 60 years.
The College Hill location has been a challenging one for officers, who have been asking for a more permanent headquarters, Long said. The building has been unsafe, Long acknowledged. She said the city was faced with the reality that D5 headquarters would either require further pooled resources to solve the problem, or it could pull back and re-evaluate the department's structure.
"To be able to make it work was just kind of a Herculean task," said Seth Walsh, Cincinnati council member. "It's worked for now. I don't think it should work like that for another 50 years."
Theetge emphasized multiple times that changing the district lines and dissolving District 5 will not harm police response and service times; she said after D5's move to College Hill from Ludlow Ave. there was zero impact to service times, despite the headquarters moving from one end of the district to the other.
"There will not be a disruption to police service in any of the 52 neighborhoods," said Theetge. "Our response time will continually be monitored to make sure that we are always providing the most efficient police service to the city."
CPD and officials with the city will hold meetings in the coming weeks where community members can ask questions about the changes coming to their neighborhoods, Theetge said. She said she understands this will be a big change for some and the department wants to ensure it's addressing community concerns.
Two town hall events are scheduled for June:
- Wednesday, June 7 — College Hill Recreation Center Gym, 5545 Belmont Ave. from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, June 27 — Winton Hills Recreation Center Gym, 5170 Winneste Ave. from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Data from all of Cincinnati's neighborhoods was evaluated over a considerable amount of time before the decision was made as to how the new districts will be formed and what neighborhoods move where, Theetge said.
The department considered data surrounding calls for service in each neighborhood, crime rates and types, the populations within the neighborhoods and optimized staffing analyses.
"It's the right thing to do by the citizens, it's the right thing to do by the officers," said Long.
As officers are re-assigned to their new districts, Theetge said the department plans to consider officer preference and the rapport an officer may have in a community. Neighborhood liaison officers, for example, may choose to move districts to specifically serve a neighborhood with which they've already established an important relationship.
You can watch the full press conference below:
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