By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

When Vickie Dennis was sentenced Monday to spend seven months in prison for possession of cocaine, a group of Northside residents was there.

The residents wanted Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Ethna Cooper to know drugs aren't welcome in their neighborhood, and that Dennis should be sentenced to jail time.

The group, Northside Court Watch, is not just going to the courthouse for the 38-year-old Northside woman's case. It plans to follow other cases that stem from Northside to make sure offenders are convicted and jailed.

"This is part of a coordinated effort in Northside to deal with problems in the community," said Tori Houlihan.

The group has three goals in its monitoring:

• To encourage judges to keep offenders off the streets.

• Support police arrests.

• Let offenders know the community is watching.

"The court has been very receptive," Houlihan said. "We've worked with a number of prosecutors."

Northside ranks among the city's busiest neighborhoods for reports of crime, Cincinnati police say.

Northside's Court Watch - which started this spring - could be the first organized effort of its kind in the area, said Mike Walton, Hamilton County court administrator.

But it's not the only neighborhood group in Cincinnati or the country that thinks a court watch program could reduce crime.

Camp Washington recently started a program, and members of College Hill's Community Problem Oriented Policing Team also have attended court cases a handful of times over the last month.

"We want to make sure offenders aren't just getting a slap on the wrist and let out again," said Jim Bodmer, who has lived in College Hill for more than 40 years.

"I understand overcrowding, but there are quality of life issues at stake."

In Madisonville and Walnut Hills, residents work through the probation department, helping probation officers keep track of offenders, Walton said.

"We've had great success," Walton said. "People in these areas are telling probation officers what's going on. They work hand in hand with police."

What is happening in Cincinnati has been repeated around the country and the state.

In Dayton, the Artemis Center for Alternatives to Domestic Violence has had a case watch program in the past. A group in Lima, Ohio, watches cases in the Allen County Courthouse. The Toledo Police Department's domestic violence unit also has a court watch.

Nationally one of the longest-running court watch programs is in Minnesota, where members have been monitoring child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence cases for 11 years.

"We send monitors to the courtroom every day," said Suzanne Elwell, executive director of WATCH.

"We feel we have had success," Elwell said. "Victims and prosecutors call and ask us to be there."

There are active court watch groups in Florida, New York and Nashville. Some places, including Hawaii and Nevada, have done court watch programs for a specified period of time. Court officials and police officers welcome the community's input at court proceedings, they say.

"We see the victims of theft offenses follow through, but rarely do neighborhoods follow through," said Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin. "It would be nice to have their input on cases."

He cautioned that judges must act within the law's sentencing guidelines and may not always do what the residents want, but said their voice is an important one in determining a sentence.

"We are 100 percent for (such groups)," said Lt. Kurt Byrd, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Police Department. "It shows support for anti-crime. We are all on the same page.

"Hopefully it becomes infectious throughout other neighborhoods," Byrd said.

Plenty to watch

Northside ranks among Cincinnati's busiest neighborhoods for reports of crime, police statistics show.

From January to October 2003, police received more than 10,000 calls for service from Northside - nearly double that of any other neighborhood in District 5, which includes College Hill, Mount Airy and Winton Hills.

Only six Cincinnati neighborhoods accounted for more calls to police than Northside: downtown, Over-the-Rhine, East Price Hill, West Price Hill, Westwood and Avondale.

Through October, Northside had 148 car thefts, 271 burglaries, 41 aggravated assaults and 71 robberies. All are the highest figures for District 5.

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Reporter Anna Michael contributed to this story. E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com