In August, Mount Healthy police set a curfew for teens living in the Clovernook Apartments in an attempt to curb violence in the area that has involved teenaged suspects.
Recently, the curfew was extended and walked back to 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. Despite the curfew, violence is still happening and community leaders said they need more time and more money.
"A lot of them are just misguided, just making a lot of bad choices, so we had to stay involved and try to help them make better choices and teach them along the way," said Mitchell Morris, who directs Cincinnati Works' Phoenix Program.
Morris is a fixture of communities in Cincinnati and is often joined by Pastor Ennis Tait, who said it's not surprising that crime hasn't dropped yet since it's a process he believes needs the support of an entire community.
"Police and pastors, parents, physicians, probation, philanthropists, professionals, all of those individuals who are working together with young people should have a time where they sit and talk about different strategies," said Tait. "There's so much amazing work going on in Cincinnati on the ground, it's never highlighted because it's not sexy. And because of that, they don't receive the funding that's needed to really continue to do the work."
Vince Demasi, Mount Healthy's police chief, said the rise in violent crimes are tarnishing the whole Mount Healthy Community, and the Clovernook Apartments. His department enacted the curfew to try to bring down crime, but he said his small department is stretched very thin.
"Most of the people that I've dealt with over there are good people," said Demasi. "They're hardworking, some obviously not as well off as others, but they all care very much. They're all, in my opinion, entitled to a safe environment and you should be able to let your kids go outside and play without worrying about, you know, somebody's being shot or somebody's being run over or stabbed or whatever else that we've been dealing with up there."
