By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MOUNT ADAMS - In response to the biggest percentage increase last year in reports of serious crime of any Cincinnati neighborhood, police officials want Mount Adams residents to form a Citizens on Patrol unit.

The number of crimes in Mount Adams is small compared with other neighborhoods. And almost all of the 60 percent spike can be attributed to one thing: thefts from vehicles.

The community's small entertainment district of nearly 20 eateries and bars is filled with parked cars along the streets.

The presence of citizens on those streets would serve as a deterrent, District 1 police commander Capt. James Whalen and Officer Doug Neack told members of the Mount Adams Civic Association late Tuesday.

"We want to get something going on The Hill," said Neack, Mount Adams neighborhood officer. "We want to get those numbers down and apprehend a few individuals responsible."

To help deliver their message, they brought along two men from the Mount Washington Citizens on Patrol who gave accounts of the program's success in their neighborhood.

After a patrol started three years ago in Mount Washington, reports of crime dropped by half, said Ron Grote and Gary Ault.

"We just want our presence felt in the community," Ault explained. "We don't jump out from behind bushes," Ault said. "We are the eyes and ears and if we see something, we report it."

Residents learn how to identify and report criminal behavior in a 12-hour training program.

Then, donning bright blue shirts and police radios, they patrol on foot, bikes or in cars and report directly to their police district.

Response was mixed.

"We are new residents in Mount Adams and want to be involved," said Tom Reese, who recently moved from Triple Crown in Northern Kentucky's Boone County.

Others were hesitant. Jerome Tokarsky, president of the Mount Adams Civic Association, said while the patrols are effective in some neighborhoods and may be in Mount Adams' residential area, he wasn't sure how useful it would be in the entertainment district.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.