From the 7/29/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Shots lead to police crackdown

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

OVER-THE-RHINE - After having shots fired near them twice in one day, Cincinnati police early Thursday decided to deliver a message to this neighborhood.

 

District 1 commanders called for officers from all over the city and told them to tell everyone they came into contact with that shooting at officers would not be tolerated. They also ordered a zero-tolerance approach, meaning officers should write tickets and make arrests for anything they saw - including things like jaywalking and littering.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050729/NEWS01/507290406/1056/rss02

 

From the 8/2/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Portune asks sheriff to help city police fight violence

By Kimball Perry

Enquirer staff writer

 

Citing what he calls the "unprecedented gun violence we are witnessing playing out on the streets," Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune has asked Sheriff Simon Leis to provide help to Cincinnati police.

 

"As I see it, the gun violence plaguing our county is straining the financial capacity and physical resources of local jurisdictions. The Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction under Ohio law to be able to play a constructive role in the success of this community to curb this violence," Portune wrote in a June 29 letter to Leis.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050802/NEWS01/508020375/1056/rss02

 

From the 8/3/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Ex-cop: Gang activity hushed up

Council committee defeats plan to reinstate police unit

By Gregory Korte

Enquirer staff writer

 

Former members of Cincinnati's police gang unit told City Council on Tuesday that higher-ups in the Police Department sat on information about "subversive white gangs" and eventually disbanded the unit so that the city could deny it had a gang problem.

 

The allegations came as Councilman Sam Malone stepped up his call for a centralized gang unit. The plan failed to win the approval of the Law and Public Safety Committee in a 3-2 vote. Fellow Republican Chris Monzel supported Malone.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050803/NEWS01/508030360/1056/rss02

 

Re-jected!  From the 8/4/05 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

Revival of anti-gang unit rejected

By Kevin Osborne

Post staff reporter

 

For at least the third time in the past year, Cincinnati officials have heeded the police chief's advice and rejected a city councilman's request to revive an anti-gang unit in the Police Department.

 

City Council voted 6-3 Wednesday to defeat Councilman Sam Malone's proposal to reorganize the unit, which was disbanded four years ago.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050804/NEWS01/508040349

 

I can see both sides of the argument. We need to be mindful not to lose the forest (neighborhood or city-wide patterns of gang activity) for the trees (individual arrests). Whether that requires a dedicated gang unit or not, I don't know.

Does it ever seem that people in Cincinnati kinda brag about our crime?  Because I have heard people say that Cincinnati is hardcore because of our crime.  Seems kinda sad.

^ I've never heard that.  I would think that criminals might brag about Cincy's crime, but I've never met a law-abiding citizen who thought that local crime was something to be proud of.

From the 8/16/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Police will begin gang awareness training

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

Cincinnati police officers chosen as part of an effort to track gang activity will be trained Wednesday on gang tattoos, colors and the department's new policy on handling gang investigations.

 

The policy was added to the department's procedure manual last week. It comes after months of talk on the floor of City Council about whether the department needed a centralized gang unit to fight violent crime that some council members believe is directly related to gangs.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050816/NEWS01/508160359/1056/rss02

 

From the 8/18/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Among the presenters at Wednesday's gang training were Lt. Col. Cindy Combs and Capt. Vince Demasi. About 40 officers attended the meeting.  Enquirer photos by Gary Landers

 

PHOTO: Dr. O'dell Owens discusses what the county coroner's office can do in the city's efforts to stem gang violence. At right is Police Lt. Col. Cindy Combs.

 

Police training focuses on dealing with gangs

Renewed effort picks up where old unit left off

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

Cincinnati police officers got a refresher course Wednesday on gangs and how to try to break them up.

 

The department's new gang investigations policy went into effect two weeks ago after months of talk at City Hall about whether the city had a gang problem and what to do about it. The policy and training formalized what the department's intelligence unit and other officers already had been doing, said Lt. Col. Cindy Combs, the assistant chief who organized the training.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS01/508180442/1056

 

From the 9/5/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Cincinnati police officers Robert Perry and Ann Lally on a patrol through Evanston. Walking ahead of them is Ryan Axle, 15. The city has increased neighborhood patrols this summer.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

 

Officers' extra footwork is making strides

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

EVANSTON - At first, the white hats weren't all that well-received.

 

Residents were skeptical about Cincinnati police officers walking their neighborhoods - every day, 12 hours a day. Officers heard parents tell kids not to talk to the "po-po.''

 

That was early summer, when the extra patrols paid for by the city had just begun. Now, three months later, the reception - at least in Evanston - has warmed considerably, police say.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050905/NEWS01/509050330/1056/rss02

 

Here's an update on this post.  This information has been sent to the Finance Committee to break down the numbers on how much these service runs are costing the CPD:

 

Calls for service/criminal activity at CMHA properties:

YEAR    CALLS  REPORTABLE OFFENSES  PART I ARRESTS  PART II ARRESTS

2002    8,828                54                      144                1,109

2003    8,027                41                      111                    942

2004    7,528                47                        62                    727

 

Calls for service/criminal activity at Section 8 properties:

YEAR    CALLS  REPORTABLE OFFENSES  PART I ARRESTS  PART II ARRESTS

2002  22,066                172                      200                1,964

2003  22,525                205                      264                  2,434

2004  24,248                184                      275                  2,574

 

A full breakdown of all of the crimes by name can be seen here:

http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/14705.pdf

 

                                 

From the 9/23/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Drug fight gets U.S. financing

Grants will provide activities to keep youths occupied

By Christy Arnold

Enquirer staff writer

 

LOWER PRICE HILL - Children used to walk by prostitutes on their way to school.

 

"Now you don't see them anymore. I chased them away," Cincinnati Police Officer Steve Ventre told the White House drug czar John Walters as they walked through the low-income neighborhood where plastic baggies, pieces of tin foil and beer bottles litter the streets and cover the ground between buildings.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050923/NEWS01/509230389/-1/back01

 

From the 9/25/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: This surveillance camera owned by CityWatcher.com is mounted on a building in Walnut Hills.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

 

PHOTO: Sean Darks (right), CEO of CityWatcher.com, works with employees Khary Williams (from left), Adam Roosa and Marco Gulley in the company's Walnut Hills headquarters. The company provides security surveillance cameras designed to thwart criminal activity.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

 

Cameras watch, nudge thugs

More eyes in the sky may come to a neighborhood near you

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

Residents love them for the way they protect their streets. Cops say they help push dope dealers away.

 

Crime-spotting cameras have been used since June in four Cincinnati neighborhoods, drawing rave reviews from residents and giving police a new tool to make arrests.

 

Now, Cincinnati City Council is considering buying 117 more to start putting 16 more neighborhoods on video.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/NEWS01/509250409/1056/rss02

I'm surprised we don't see more of these in OTR.

I think cameras like that are a good idea, assuming they are successful.

Here's something you don't hear about every day--drug dealing in Oakley.  From the 10/12/05 Eastern Hills Journal:

 

 

PHOTO: Oakley residents have complained about crime and drug activity at the intersection of Camberwell and Madison roads.  FORREST SELLERS/COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF

 

Drug problems stir resident complaints

BY FORREST SELLERS | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

OAKLEY -- Camberwell Road resident Brian Finn is tired of looking out of his window and seeing a crime in progress.

 

"You just missed a guy in a black SUV with tinted windows making a drug deal," he said prior to an interview last week.

 

"A lot of the neighbors feel they can't go walking out at night," Finn said.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051012/NEWS01/510120464/1074/Local

 

Great...........From the 10/18/05 Enquirer:

 

 

GRAPH: Homicides, 2000-2005

 

Homicides already pass 2004

Woman's killing over weekend was 67th this year

By Jane Prendergast

Enquirer staff writer

 

The weekend death of a woman in Winton Place sent Cincinnati's homicide total so far this year to 67, topping the total for all of 2004 with more than two months remaining in the year.

 

Felicia Brown, 37, was found in front of her apartment Saturday morning in the Winton Terrace complex. Her throat was cut. Investigators have not made an arrest, but they say they have an idea what might have happened.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051018/NEWS01/510180355/1056/rss02

 

From the 10/26/05 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

Police patrols pay off for city

By Tony Cook

Post staff reporter

 

The $1.2 million Cincinnati City Council spent earlier this year to triple walking and bicycle police patrols and crime sweeps during the summer netted 3,791 arrests and improved police-community relations, according to a report released Tuesday by the city manager's office.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051026/NEWS01/510260350/1010/RSS01

 

The latest development:

 

Council members Sam Malone and Chris Monzel have put forth a motion that the city should get behind a neighborhood-based crime database that uses the latest technology to track and to address crime (the Neighborhood Support Center).  They want to begin a pilot program and then expand it to all of the other neighborhoods if it is successful.  They also hope to get corporate development officials behind it, ostensibly to foot the bill.  They are calling this "Operation Nowhere to Hide".  County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. has pledged his support.  This is now in the Law and Public Safety Committee.

From the 11/6/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Neighborhood erodes in face of crime, poverty

By Christy Arnold

Enquirer staff writer

 

EAST PRICE HILL - Crack Hill.

 

That's what the graffiti labels it.

 

East Price Hill didn't used to be known as a drug neighborhood.

 

Residents there could hand out Halloween candy without fearing they'd be shot by trick-or-treaters. Construction workers could go to a job without worrying about being hit by stray bullets, something that happened last spring to one man.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/NEWS01/511060392

 

http://There's something else Hickson wants more residents to do. She wants them to reclaim their neighborhood.

 

I wish more people thought like her.  Although I can't pass judgement to the people that left as I am not in their situation. 

As the rise of OTR and the West End comes, the fall of Price Hill and Westwood is clear.

 

Oy!  And I like Price Hill!!!

Price Hill yes, but Westwood will stand strong I believe.

There are 3 Price Hill's and none of them are named just "Price Hill".  Do they all have the same problems?  How is West Price Hill holding up during all of this?

Keith Fangman, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, was happy with the council race results.

 

"On behalf of our police officers, this is great news for law enforcement and the city as a whole,'' he said late Tuesday night. "Having Christopher Smitherman removed from City Council is an early Christmas present for our officers. The nine that have been elected, we believe, will work well together with law enforcement. And the entire city will benefit from an improved relationship between the police and City Hall.''

West Price Hill is having fewer problems generally.  East Price Hill has the majority of the problems.

 

The only really bad parts of Westwood are closer to East Westwood and in the abundant apartments complexes along some of the corridors.  The residential neighborhoods are in outstanding shape.

 

Maybe I'll try to put a map together within the next few days that will make more sense of it.

Hahaha....

 

Here's a related story from the Community Press, 11/9/05:

 

Residents 'outraged' about shooting

Crimestoppers tips help police

BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

PRICE HILL -- Support from outraged residents helped District 3 officers make arrests in the Halloween night shooting of 84-year-old Charles Iles. But continued community support is needed to make Price Hill a safer place.

 

Three young men pushed their way into Charles Iles' home on Oct. 31 and shot him twice in the chest after his wife, Ada, told them trick-or-treat was over.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051109/NEWS01/511090363/1074/Local

 

From the 11/12/05 Enquirer:

 

Cops urge West Enders to ID killer

Police say shooting victim was likely just innocent bystander

By Christy Arnold and Eileen Kelley

Enquirer staff writers

 

WEST END - Marquan Dodds offers an open-mouth smile as his mother and friends pass him around.

 

At the age of 1, he's too young to understand that the man whose shoulders he had been riding on Thursday - his father - was dead, killed by a bullet police are almost certain was intended for someone else.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051112/NEWS01/511120390/1056/rss02

 

From the 11/13/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Ben Pipkin hatched the plan to fill plastic Easter eggs with concrete and attach them to a bridge ledge, thereby preventing drug dealers from sitting there.  The Enquirer/Tony Jones

 

'Bumps' on bridge deter drug dealers

By Christy Arnold

Enquirer staff writer

 

KENNEDY HEIGHTS - Maybe the recipe for winning the war on drugs is a mix of enforcement, education and eggs.

 

The combination is working in one Cincinnati neighborhood.

 

Some Kennedy Heights residents, armed with plastic Easter eggs, recently won a turf war against drug dealers who had taken control of a bridge on Kennedy Avenue, next to Kennedy Park.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051113/NEWS01/511130357/1056

 

Umm...this murder coincided nicely with the Morgan Quitno report on safe/unsafe cities.  So they jumped right on that with the charts and the graphs.  Anyway, this appeared in the 11/22/05 Enquirer:

 

 

GRAPH: Homicide count, 1996-2005

 

GRAPH: Homicides by neighborhood

 

Killing ties city's 26-year high

Walnut Hills man is 75th homicide this year

By Christy Arnold

Enquirer staff writer

 

WALNUT HILLS - Yellow crime-scene tape still littered the street and sidewalks near a Kenton Street home hours after the city's 75th homicide victim was discovered early Monday.

 

Cincinnati police found George Martin, 69, shot to death shortly before 1 a.m. in a 125-year-old home in the 2300 block of Kenton.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS01/511220364/1056/rss02

 

I put together the population data with the homocides by neighborhood...it really moves Avondale down the list, since it's such a large population, and moves some small populations up a good ways.  Population data from 2000...

 

Neighborhood Population Homocides H/1K Pop

Over-The-Rhine 7,638 10 1.31

Fay Apartments 2,453 3 1.22

Walnut Hills 7,790 9 1.16

Sedamsville-Riverside 2,223 2 0.90

Camp Washington 1,506 1 0.66

Mt Adams 1,514 1 0.66

CBD-Riverfront 3,189 2 0.63

West End 8,115 5 0.62

Avondale 16,298 10 0.61

Bond Hill 9,682 5 0.52

South Cumminsville-Millvale 3,914 2 0.51

Mt Auburn 6,516 3 0.46

Winton Place 2,337 1 0.43

Evanston 7,928 3 0.38

Kennedy Heights 5,296 2 0.38

Northside 9,389 3 0.32

South Fairmount 3,251 1 0.31

Winton Hills 5,204 1 0.19

College Hill 15,269 2 0.13

West Price Hill 17,115 2 0.12

East Price Hill 17,964 2 0.11

Westwood 35,730 3 0.08

Hyde Park 13,640 1 0.07

 

That looks about right.  People always complain about all of the murders in Price Hill and Westwood and forget that 71,000 people live there.

The irony of this story is the night it was on the news, we had a crack dealer pulled out of 101 Peete St, owned by the Foundation and Marge Hammelrath.

 

New Plan To Bust Downtown-Area Crime

 

 

Reported by: Tom McKee

Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller

Photographed by: 9News

First posted: 11/22/2005 6:05:59 PM

 

Cincinnati Police are getting a new tool to combat drug dealing and prostitution.

 

It will make criminals less mobile and put a dent in their wallets as well.

 

Laws to keep convicted criminals out of the neighborhood or send letters to owners of cars that frequented the area were ruled unconstitutional.

 

end

As a matter of a fact, these are the list of crimes that came out of Marges, and Jim's building recently

3/12/2005 1:01 600 Petit Theft 100 E CLIFTON AV

3/15/2005 16:59 862 Domestic Violence 100 E CLIFTON AV

3/31/2005 9:00 700 Vehicle Theft 100 E CLIFTON AV

4/6/2005 21:41 862 Domestic Violence 100 E CLIFTON AV

5/9/2005 23:19 810 Assault 100 E CLIFTON AV

6/21/2005 22:32 401 Felonious Assault 100 E CLIFTON AV

8/28/2005 15:53 1407 Criminal Damaging/Endangering 100 E CLIFTON AV

9/1/2005 21:51 802 Aggravated Menacing 100 E CLIFTON AV

9/29/2005 19:11 810 Assault 100 E CLIFTON AV

4/20/2005 21:40 810 Assault 101  PEETE ST

4/21/2005 1:54 1407 Criminal Damaging/Endangering 101  PEETE ST

10/4/2005 22:30 600 Petit Theft 105  PEETE ST

2/27/2005 21:00 401 Felonious Assault 1400  RACE ST

3/18/2005 7:55 401 Felonious Assault 1400  RACE ST

3/27/2005 11:30 600 Grand Theft 1400  RACE ST

5/11/2005 15:30 862 Domestic Violence 1400  RACE ST

7/8/2005 1:01 1407 Criminal Damaging/Endangering 1400  RACE ST

7/10/2005 11:00 401 Felonious Assault 1400  RACE ST

7/26/2005 15:10 600 Petit Theft 1400  RACE ST

8/11/2005 18:38 810 Assault 1400  RACE ST

8/12/2005 10:15 552 Breaking and Entering 1400  RACE ST

8/16/2005 14:00 810 Assault 1400  RACE ST

8/18/2005 16:05 551 Burglary 1400  RACE ST

9/1/2005 13:15 401 Felonious Assault 1400  RACE ST

9/13/2005 19:15 810 Assault 1400  RACE ST

9/30/2005 14:58 552 Breaking and Entering 1400  RACE ST

 

I believe in addition to going after the cars, we should also go after the owners of the buildings where crime is so prolific.  At some point, property owners must be held accountable for their property.  If they are profiting from these buildings, they should also be exposed to consequences arising to what their tenants are doing to the surrounding neighborhood.

^ I'm with you on that.  As long as the buildings' owners get fair warning, of course.

 

There was a building on St. Michael St. in Lower Price Hill that had an astronomical number of service calls.  Numerous attempts by the neighborhood to do anything about it failed. 

 

The LPH community council sent letters to the city and to the landlord, Metro Management.

 

The police went by around June and found filthy conditions and empty apartments that were being used by drug users and prostitutes.  The city eventually vacated and barricaded the building.

 

As of last month, Metro Management had told the city that they're preparing to sell the building to someone who is going to clean it up and bring it back to full occupancy.

 

So there's at least one instance where really leaning on a building owner hard got something done.  Of course, it's sad that it takes a whole community, a city council, B&I and the Cincinnati Police Department to make things right.  And who knows--Metro Management is somewhat high profile in the city.  Would it have been as effective if the building's owner were just some absentee slumlord with one or two properties?

 

I just spoke with a person on the West End CC who said they were successful in using the nuisance abatement law.  We are exploring that option as well as media pressure for the Foundation to do something.  I keep getting put off to Metro and although I have talked to Metro, I do not care who the property owner has hired as their management, I only care about the owner.

Here's a story from the 11/24/05 Community Press that I forgot to post regarding security cameras:[/i]

 

 

"It's not Big Brother. It's based on what the neighborhood's needs are. The neighborhood can place the cameras where they are needed."

ERIC FRANZ

CINCINNATI POLICE OFFICER

 

Cameras keeping an eye on crime

Coming to Price Hill soon

BY FORREST SELLERS | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

CINCINNATI -- A number of Cincinnati neighborhoods are going before the camera. However, it's not a Hollywood film or an episode of "Cops."

 

Cameras are being set up throughout the Tristate as part of a crime prevention and surveillance effort called "City Watcher."

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS01/511230537/1074/Local

 

So I take it that the numbers on city-data.com are bogus then?

 

Scroll down the page to see the murder numbers per year.  They have the year 2000 at 15 murders.

 

http://www.city-data.com/city/Cincinnati-Ohio.html

 

vs.

 

http://cmsimg.enquirer.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=AB&Date=20051122&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511220364&Ref=V1&Profile=1056&MaxW=600&title=1

It all depends on the source for the numbers.  I remember this conversation happening in SSP about murder stats and why they were so different from source to source.  I think the main difference here is that the Enquirer is using CPD statistics and city-data uses data from the FBI (I think).

 

^ That's true...

 

City-Data & BestPlaces used to advertise how they received the number's, but for some reason they no longer do this.

We went with friends to dinner at Nicola's tonight, and as we pulled onto Liberty after we left, we wondered why there were a ton of cops in the rear-view mirror...turns out an undercover cop was shot, or shot at, not long ago:

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051202/NEWS01/312020028

Police officer hurt in OTR shooting

 

A Cincinnati police officer was injured Friday night after a man opened fire on the officer’s unmarked car in Over-the-Rhine. The officer, who was not identified, was taken to University Hospital.

It was unclear if he was injured by a bullet or flying glass, Lt. Bruce Hoffbauer said. His injuries were non-life-threatening, police said.

Hoffbauer said two male undercover officers and a female officer in the unmarked car had observed the suspect carrying a gun near the corner of Race and Green streets shortly before 10 p.m.

The man fired five or six shots at the officers, and a male officer in the car returned fire. Hoffbauer said the suspect might have been wounded, but did not know how many shots officers fired.

Dozens of uniformed and undercover officers swarmed the area, shutting down streets and going house to house looking for the suspect, who was described as a black male wearing a leather jacket, dark pants and carrying a dark handgun. SWAT officers were concentrating on the area of Pleasant and West Liberty streets.

I was driving down Liberty St. last night a few minutes before 10 pm, when the cops were still swarming into the area at full speed from all different districts.  Normally you only see District 1 officers in OTR, so I knew it must have been something serious.

 

According to WCPO.com, they found the suspect in a local hospital, so he must indeed have been wounded when the officer returned fire. The officer was shot in the shoulder and will be OK. I'm glad to hear this situation turned out as good as could be expected.  It could have been much, much worse, and the suspect could still be at large.

Meida is always out to diss downtown especially during the holidays.  The job and family building is in OTR NOT downtown.

 

Downtown Worker Robbed And Raped, Police Say

 

 

The woman works downtown

(WCPO/WCPO.com)

 

Reported by: 9News

Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller

Photographed by: 9News

First posted: 12/5/2005 12:30:55 PM

Last updated: 12/5/2005 1:03:21 PM

 

Police are looking for a suspect accused of raping and robbing a woman as she was heading to work downtown Monday morning.

 

Investigators say a man forced the woman into an SUV as she started to enter the Job and Family Services Building, where she worked, along Central Parkway around 7:45 a.m.

 

The man then took the woman to an ATM where he made her take out money, police say.

 

He then raped her in an abandoned home along Harrison Avenue, dropping her off in North Fairmount, investigators told 9News.

 

The suspect was driving a gray Mazda Tribute, Ohio license DBD 7255

 

That's terrible. This is every suburban nightmare come true. It may not be in OTR, but across the street. This will probable have everyone who works in the building on edge. There's probably a lot females that work for that organization. At least the thug found a good use for an abandon building.

Every single newscast referred to it as downtown, even though none of the crimes actually took place there.  Fascinating!

 

---

Here's some good news.  Those thugs who came on to a Metro bus looking for people from Bond Hill and waving a gun were convicted and will get jail time.  The only things this story is missing are the quotes from the boys' parents saying how good they are:

 

 

PHOTO: Brandon Mincy (second from left) and Dante Allen (far right), along with their attorneys, Carl Lewis and Roger Bouchard, respectively, stand before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Mark Schweikert on Thursday, when they were found guilty.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

 

Two teens convicted in bus-takeover case

Passengers terrorized at gunpoint in June

By Sharon Coolidge

Enquirer staff writer

 

Two teenage boys who climbed aboard a Metro bus June 6 demanding at gunpoint to know if any of the passengers were from Bond Hill were convicted Thursday by a judge.

 

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Mark Schweikert convicted Dante Allen, 17, of Evanston and Brandon Mincy, 18, of North Avondale on charges of felonious assault, kidnapping, inducing panic and disrupting public service.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051202/NEWS01/512020448/1056

 

Check out the picture wcpo.com used for the rape story. It seems they changed their story a little too..

 

 

Police are looking for a suspect accused of raping and robbing a woman at gunpoint as she was heading to work downtown Monday morning.

 

The incident started around 7:45 a.m. in a parking lot along Sycamore, just outside the Jobs and Family Services Building, where the victim works.

 

The woman told police she was paying to park for the day when a man with a shotgun forced her back into her car.

 

Police say he made her go to an ATM in Avondale and withdraw cash.

 

Then, at some point, the suspect raped the woman, police said. It's unclear where that rape occurred.

 

Hours later, the victim showed up at a house along Yoast Avenue in Fairmount and asked the resident for help.

 

"I asked what's wrong, she's crying and asked to use the phone, needed to call 911," said that resident, who asked to be identified only as Mark.

 

9News obtained a tape of that 911 call:

 

Caller:

 

"And then he took me somewhere off Harrison Avenue and raped me and dumped all my personal things, credit card, and ID out on the road. He robbed me at work and I've been driving around with him for 2 hours and he just dropped me off and took my truck."

That truck is a Gray Mazda Tribute SUV with Ohio license number DBD-7255.

 

The victim gave police this description of the suspect:

 

Black male

Mid 20s to early 30s

Goatee

Wearing long blue jean jacket and gray jeans

The SUV has not been spotted since the alleged attack. Police believe the suspect may still be driving it.

 

 

The Enquirer has run an series about crime, and a roundtable of local leaders and citizens that got together to discuss ways to lessen gun violence.  I'll post the main story and then the links will follow.  Also, be sure to check out the maps that I'll also post at the end of the story.  It helps one visualize crime hotspots.

 

From the 12/11/05 Enquirer:

 

 

A culture of gun violence

Officials, community leaders cite many reasons for growing problem

By Sharon Coolidge

Enquirer staff writer

 

Seventy-six people have been killed by violence in Cincinnati this year - most by guns.

 

University Hospital's trauma unit expects to treat 328 gunshot-wound victims this year. In 2000, the unit treated 111.

 

Since Jan. 1, 2002, 1,588 people have been wounded by gunfire in Cincinnati.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051211/EDIT03/512110360/1023

 

 

I think the report is a bit flawed on the number of gunshots being heard. As a recreational shooter for most of my  life, I know a gun shot when I hear one. I can't even remember the last time I heard gunfire and I live across the street from OTR. Kids around here set off fireworks non stop around the holidays and I suppose many  on the report were just that. It would be interesting to see the actvity monthly and I bet many of the "Gunshots" were heard around july 4th, labor day and new years.

 

He likened Cincinnati and surrounding areas to a doughnut, sweet on the outside with a hole in the middle

 

I think cincinnati is more like a jelly doughnut sweet on the inside and bland on the outside.

Can you describe the difference?  Or not? 

 

I thought I heard what sounded like a pack of firecrackers going off , and it turned out to be automatic gunfire at the Belmont Cafe a few months ago.  So obviously I can't tell one from the other.

 

And by the way, what are the things that sound like bombs, that go off all summer?

Jimmy, I also heard the belmont shooting. That was the scariest sound I have heard since living around here. The loud explosions you, I and many others heard all last summer were those single shell fireworks. I had neighbors who called the cops thinking those were gunshots. I forget the name but those things would wake me up all the time since they even shot them off at 4 am on a weekday :x Most of the time when you hear gunshots around here they are 9mm or similar sized caliber. if you hear 4-5 fast bursts in a consecutive 2-3 second time frame that most likely will be gunfire. Thats when like ICE-T used to rap you should,,  HIT-THE-DECK!