CINCINNATI — Public safety and health took the top spot in Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long's end-of-year report to the city council Tuesday.
Long attributed a 6% drop in shooting incidents to a comprehensive gun violence reduction program and a 32% decrease in youth shooting victims year-over-year to programs within that comprehensive effort targeted to young people.
The city manager said one thing above all others contributed to the drop in overall gun violence: "Consistency."
"They always say you put your money where your priorities are, and public safety is a huge portion of our budget," Long said.
Long said the comprehensive response to 2023's rise in violence, especially among young people, included a partnership with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's offering wrap-around services to shooting victims to break cycles of violence, a police "tow/parking blitz pilot" program aimed at disrupting violent crime before it happens in target areas, a collaboration with volunteers to patrol youth violence-prone areas and data review to allocate resources block-by-block more efficiently.
"Just being really methodical about where we're putting our resources and making sure we're using the data, coming in with all city departments to take it block-by-block," she said.
In an interview last week about disruptions at regional transit centers, Police Chief Teresa Theetge warned the reduction in juvenile shooting victims didn't tell the entire story when it came to violence.
"What we're seeing down 35% are juveniles as shooting victims. That's what we're seeing down. What we're seeing an uptick in, is juvenile minor crimes and daily disorder," Theetge said.
The police chief called for any and all solutions to that issue ahead of Thursday's joint meeting of Cincinnati City Council and Cincinnati Public Schools.
Long said there was no guarantee the metrics that have fallen would continue to come down in the coming year.
"I can't be confident," Long said. "That's what city managers are prepared to do. We never lead with confidence. We lead with what is the data saying, and do we need to do."
She said continued support of the council for existing programs would be key to that effort.
"What I 100% am confident of is city staff showing up every single day and making sure we're working to solution," said Long.
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