Cincinnati rolls out expanded summer safety plan as shootings fall about 30%

Cincinnati officials on Wednesday outlined an expanded “Summer in Cincy” safety and youth engagement campaign that pairs targeted police deployments with enlarged parks and recreation programming to keep teens occupied while school is out.

The announcement came as the Cincinnati Police Department reported shooting incidents and shooting victimization “year to date down, I will say dramatically, about 30% declines across categories,” Assistant Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Hammer said.

City Manager’s Office representative Iris Rowley said the effort compiles events, resource links and supports on a Summer in Cincy hub so residents can find food, rental and utility relief, mental‑health resources and youth activities. “With summer just around the corner, we want our community, especially our families and youth, to know all programs and initiatives available to them while school is out,” Rowley told the Public Safety and Governance Committee.

Nut graf: The program is a multiagency push to reduce summer violence by combining concentrated police work in chronic crime hot spots with expanded daytime and late‑night youth programming — including Rec at Night slots at two rec centers, expanded skate programming at Sawyer Point, free and paid swim offerings, and workforce pathways such as the cadet and swim‑academy tracks. Officials emphasized the violence decline but said continued community participation — especially safer firearm storage by owners — remains essential.

Police and crime analysts described the enforcement side as highly focused. “It is really only about 5% of our city's geography that makes up 31% of violent crime and 42% of gunshot victimization,” Lieutenant Colonel Hammer said, adding that data analysts help target deployments and that the department wants to couple enforcement with problem‑solving partners and social supports in those neighborhoods.

Hammer and crime analysts also raised stolen firearms from vehicles as a continuing driver of gun violence. Officials said many stolen guns are not reported as stolen and that thefts from autos are increasingly shifting from large parking garages to cars parked on streets. The department is integrating property‑room records into its Axon system to better trace recovered crime guns back to thefts, Dr. Jillian Desmond’s team told the committee.

On the programming side, Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) Director Daniel Betts and Parks Director Jason Baron described expanded summer offerings aimed at teens and families. Betts said Rec at Night will return and expand programming at Lincoln and Hearst rec centers; he said CRC served about 3,000 young people last summer through late‑night events and related offerings. “The young people, who have been engaged in this program, we had a small number of those young people who actually sat down with me and the team to help develop what Saturdays would look like,” Betts said.

Baron highlighted a slate of riverfront and neighborhood activities, including a larger roller‑skating activation at Sawyer Point that will run multiple sessions per week with free skate rental for attendees who bring ID. “Winning the governor's award for Rec at Night is a truly amazing achievement,” Baron said of the program that the committee credited with strong turnout.

Officials also outlined aquatics and camps: CRC operates 23 pools and multiple spraygrounds; this summer the parks and recreation departments are offering free open swim at select sites and swim lessons that begin at age 5. CRC runs a swim‑academy and lifeguard training pipeline with a minimum trainee age of 14, and parks employ youth conservation “green teams” and naturalists to run Explore Nature camps for ages roughly 3½–15.

Committee members pressed for details on which neighborhoods are designated hot spots and asked administration and CPD to email the map to council. “Could you send us the hot spot neighborhoods? Just email them to council so that we know which ones we're talking about now,” Councilmember Anna Albee requested; CPD agreed to provide an updated list.

Councilmember Mark Jeffries and others asked what additional resources would be needed to expand late‑night programming into more hot spots next year; CRC said expansion would require additional funding and that the department is preparing cost scenarios for administration and council budget deliberations.

Officials repeatedly urged parents, guardians and community groups to participate. “We want people to get involved in this work and we know that that is what will help us continue to generate dramatic returns in safety,” Hammer said, and Chair Scotty Johnson added that the effort must remain a “team approach” across city government, nonprofit partners and families.

The committee also handled routine agenda business: by unanimous consent, the panel moved item No. 2 to passage, and later filed items 3 and 4.

Ending: City leaders said the summer rollout is intended to be both immediate and scalable; they urged residents to consult the city's Summer in Cincy hub and to volunteer or partner with CRC, Parks and community groups as departments return to council with budget scenarios for potential program expansion.