CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati on Tuesday announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's. The goal is to stop violence and help people heal from trauma.
City manager Sheryl Long said the July 4, 2021 fatal shooting in Smale Park started a dialogue about the need for more community partners.
"We can't always be reactive. We can't wait for heartbreaking things to happen before we come together and work as a team," Long said.
Long said crime in the city is evolving, with people stealing Kias and Hyundais after seeing how-to guides on social media or breaking into cars to look for guns that aren't locked up.
"As a human being, I feel helpless. We all do," said Long. "These things make us feel small and defeated, we wonder if anything will ever change."
She said this new partnership will give people in Cincinnati renewed hope on how to solve what the city declared in 2022 as a public health crisis.
Dr. Amy Makley with UC Medical Center spoke about how the city's hospitals treat, on average, 500 gunshot victims every year.
"We as institutions have not done enough to address the long-lasting mental and psychological trauma that gun violence inflicts," Makley said. "Disproportionately, many of our patients are young, healthy adults, teenagers, children, and they have a high proportion that are young Black males. Research reveals that re-injury rates are soaring as high as 45%, highlighting the need for comprehensive support beyond the initial treatment of gunshot injuries."
Assistant City Manager Virginia Tallent said the goal is meant to those impacted where they're at and address the many factors that go into continued violence.
"Hundreds of individuals, children and adults alike arrive at our hospitals with the physical scars of violence and we refuse to continue to meet with them with just bandages," Tallent said.
Antwan Hinton, a sophomore at Dater High School, said he lost both his father and brother to gun violence before he entered high school.
"I just played basketball, so I wasn't thinking about it — just keeping a smile on my face," Hinton said.
In October 2022, he then lost his AAU basketball coach to gun violence after a shooting in Avondale.
Hinton said he thinks the program is a step in the right direction for the city. But not everyone is on board.
"If you don't get them before they learn those survival tools, their road is to jail or death," said Zandorsia Montford, a mentor from the nonprofit Just Choice. "Listen to them, see what's going on, I understand what they're up against, in their home, on their way to school and in school."
Montford said the city's announcement Tuesday missed the mark, adding it felt too reactive and not proactive enough.
"The mind is basically where the fight is at," Montford said. "That's where you win the fight at. In the mind, we have to transform their mind because if you don't transform their mind, you are going to get the same symptoms, it's like a band-aid over an infected wound."
Hours after the announcement, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office hosted a gun violence prevention meeting.
“It’s the real deal effort of boots on the ground, what we can do to actually touch the factor of lessening violence in our communities. And each one of you has been out there shaking hands, talking to kids," Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said.
Brothas Inc., a youth mentoring organization, approached the sheriff eight months ago, wanting to help end gun violence.
“We feel that the more presence, the more people around, the better, the more things we can achieve," said Rodni Chambers, executive director of community development and engagement with Brothas Inc. Youth Initiative.
Dozens of people were at the meeting, including city leaders and community activists.
De'Ron Smith with I Dream Academy said it was important for his organization to be at the meeting and be part of the solution.
“How do we create an atmosphere to where these youth that we do invite them to the table?" Smith said. "We could do this all day, and it’s productive and it’s great, but we do have to create something that is going to bring those youth to the table."
Pastor Ennis Tait suggested the group plan a date to talk about implementing their strategy to curb violence.
The group meets every second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Clifton Recreation Center at 7 p.m.
WCPO asked city leaders how much its new program would cost every year. While we never received any specifics about that dollar amount, the city did say they want to start the program sometime in the summer and want to hire two or three professionals who specialize in trauma.
The city also announced the hiring of DeAngelo Rosa Harris as the city's new "violence reduction manager," a new position. He starts Monday, Feb. 19.
