Activists who spearheaded extra anti-drug patrols in Avondale have invited residents of other neighborhoods to a meeting Thursday with Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials about increasing violence.

        The Avondale Public Safety Task Force hopes to fill an auditorium at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with residents interested in talking about issues such as drug sales and their connection to violent crime, how people accused of crime get out on bail, and if Cincinnati has enough police officers.

        Cincinnati's homicide rate has jumped 67 percent in the first part of 2002, compared with the same period a year ago. Overall, serious crime is up 8.4 percent, comparing the first four months of this year with the same time period last year.

        “We've got to get the people out, these people who feel as if what they say doesn't mean anything,” said Tom Jones, president of the task force. “Sometimes, you have to actually come out of your home and stand up and be counted.”

        A variety of high-profile officials are scheduled to speak: Prosecutor Mike Allen; Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Ron Twitty; Fraternal Order of Police union leaders Roger Webster and Keith Fangman, and Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel.

        Mr. Jones also hopes that seeing a lot of residents boosts police morale — officers might get more involved with residents, he said, if they feel more support.

        The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the hospital's Albert Sabin Auditorium.

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