Friday, July 23, 1999
City may add cops in crime hot spots
BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Every Cincinnati neighborhood would have an extra police officer assigned to street-specific problems under a plan being unveiled today at City Hall.
While the city already has police on neighborhood beats, this plan would use grant money to place off-duty officers in geographic crime hot spots.
“Police officers cannot be everywhere all the time,” said Republican Councilman Charlie Winburn, the proposal's author. “This can target them. If a community has a lot of thefts from cars, they can actually break it up.”
Under the plan, churches, community councils and other neighborhood organizations would compete for $15,000 grants, which would be awarded to up to 52 neighborhoods in two-year pilot programs.
Eighty percent of the money would come from private donors, such as businesses, and 20 percent would be federal dollars.
It would save money, Mr. Winburn said, by using existing officers on Cincinnati's 1,000-member force to work off-duty details instead of hiring officers at full-time pay.
While statistics show serious crime has been on the decline for seven years locally and nationwide, supporters want more officers walking the streets.
“It's a fabulous idea,” said community activist Gloria Morgan of Price Hill. “But we need to be cautious about who decides where in the neighborhood services will be used.”
She wants police district captains, instead of business owners, to be able to assign officers to specific areas.
The National Rifle Association also is weighing in with support. “The idea to solve community problems is good,” said NRA member Glenn Kestler of Westwood.
Police also like the notion of more officers on the beat working with individual communities, local Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman said.
“The program is definitely worthy of consideration,” he said, “as long as none of the funding is taken out of the existing safety department budget, which is already stretched to the breaking point.”
Mr. Winburn said he would volunteer to be a fund-raiser to encourage businesses to invest in the program. Council now must decide whether to go ahead with the idea.
“It's not the total answer,” said Tom Jones, chairman of Avondale's public safety task force. “But it's a step in the right direction.”
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