CINCINNATI – Cincinnati police can guarantee extra $250,000 to buy overtime for officers from the City Council Wednesday.
Some members expect the full panel to approve the appropriation of funds through the end of the current financial year in June.
“Last year, we allocated a million,” Deputy Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney said after the meeting. “So I’m really glad we only need $250,000. Now the head says if they need more (money) they’ll come back to us, that’s normal, but hopefully My hope is enough.”
Members of the Government and Public Safety Committee heard Interim Sheriff Teresa Theetge explain her Summer Safety Plan.
“What can we do as council members for support?” asked board member Liz Keating during Tuesday’s meeting.
Committee chairman Scotty Johnson, a former police officer, told the council the chief would help at all costs.
“I might have trouble with this but you know I’m used to trouble, good trouble,” he said. “I want (Chief Theetge) to have everything (she needs) to make sure we stay one of the safest cities in this country. I know funding is a problem, but I tell you. that I don’t want you to have. worry about $250,000. If more is needed for us to maintain a safe city, then we (must) find a way to make sure that happens.”
Theetge’s violence prevention plan involves commanders in all six police precincts using data to dispatch more personnel to hotspots. Now, crime complaints have prompted additional District 2 patrols near Montgomery Road and Woodburn Avenue in Evanston.
“The hardest hit areas will see an increased presence of uniformed officers,” Theetge said. “However, there will also be officers out there that they don’t see.”
Theetge told WCPO 9 News that she does not anticipate requests for additional funding this fiscal year unless the city has another Smale Park-level shooting. In that case on July 4 last year, guns killed two teenagers and three others along the riverbank.
However, Johnson still promised to deliver if asked to spend more.
“If we want to have a safe city, we have to be willing to dig those coffers, make some adjustments so that the money needed for the police to do what they do is there,” Johnson said.
Other parts of Theetge’s plan include better community engagement with community councils and residents regularly talking to officers about hotspots and bringing youth into camps to avoid them meeting trouble. It can lead to better relationships and more tips, as well as keeping the CPD budget in line, says Theetge.
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