CINCINNATI — City leaders introduced a new initiative Tuesday 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.
"There is no one strategy that will mitigate gun violence," said Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge.
Here are the five specific strategies:
- Thriving neighborhoods
- Reduced accessibility of firearms to youth
- Improved wellbeing
- Improved youth support
- Evidence-based policing innovations
Officials admitted they've already offered most of the services detailed, but Mayor Aftab Pureval suggested it's possible the community doesn't know about the services or the city has not done a good enough job getting the message out.
"It's really to get the community and all of our community partners to really row in the same direction," said Virginia Tallent, assistant city manager.
City leaders also touched on an ongoing problem that's impacted the city for years.
"It is shocking how many guns are stolen from cars and how brazen criminals are in their search for guns that are not sufficiently locked away," City Manager Sheryl Long said.
Mayor Aftab Pureval highlighted a 35% reduction in gun violence this year, attributing it to ongoing efforts. Long said in 2023, 43% of all arrests from the Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC) found at least one stolen gun. It's why the city continues to push families to accept free gun locks which can be found at all Cincinnati police stations.
"We have to come together to solve this problem," said Ronnell Ellison, whose group Brothas Inc Youth Initiative mentors high school students to show them a different path. "We take that gun out of their hand and then we can put a knife in their hand in our culinary classes, we're having a wood shop class, give them a hammer or a saw or drill."
While city leaders stressed that more people need to get involved, one of the city's biggest community partners was not there Tuesday.
At the city’s new violence reduction blueprint, “Cincy Act,” nobody from Cincinnati Public Schools was up there. I asked if they were part of this new program, Mayor Pureval said no, but stressed CPS is a community partner. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/voKnc5QSpE
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) January 21, 2025
"Cincinnati Public Schools is not necessarily a part of convening Act for Cincy, but Cincinnati Public is an incredibly important partner," Pureval said. "With the new superintendent, I've had a conversation with her, I know city manager Long has had a conversation with her, we are hoping to strengthen our partnership to do some problem-solving within the schools but we're still in talks about how to effectively roll that out."
Pureval went on to say CPS is an important community partner, but there were no members of CPS there at the press conference. WCPO 9 News reached out to CPS to find out why the leadership team was not there. We also asked if they were invited, but we're still waiting for CPS to comment.
