Residents press council on policing, surveillance and development; council honors All in Cincinnati and Officer Marcellus Jones

Residents and community leaders addressed Cincinnati City Council during the citizens forum with complaints about police surveillance, neighborhood development and property receivership, and calls for better protections for health-care workers. The council also used part of its meeting to recognize the All in Cincinnati Coalition for Women’s History Month and to adopt a posthumous resolution honoring Officer Marcellus Jones.

In public comment, Tracy Everett said she has been targeted by law-enforcement processes for years and accused the city of over-policing and “virtual profiling.” Everett said, “Y’all over policing. I don't got nothing to do with all this virtual profiling stuff y’all doing.” She also raised concerns about cameras and what she described as a gang task-force bulletin that lists young people’s names.

Multiple speakers raised related concerns about surveillance technology and “false narratives.” Tanika Edwards said the technology “is making me a target” and asked how to resolve a pattern she described as technology-generated profiling; she identified family ties to civil-rights history while seeking city assistance.

Health-care worker safety also drew public comment. Angela Booker, a registered nurse of 26 years, told council she resigned from a hospital because of repeated patient assaults and urged “stronger policies and protection for health care workers, including increasing security in our hospitals, training programs and legislation that imposes stricter penalties for assaults against our health care workers.” Stephane Pryor and another speaker linked those concerns to a broader pattern of workplace violence in health care.

Neighborhood development also surfaced during public comment. Kathleen Wilkins urged council to “stick with the existing zoning” for Hyde Park Square and oppose a developer known in the comments as PLK, saying the developer’s request would remove “110 parking spaces permanently from the square” and could harm longstanding local businesses. Alexis Marsh, an OTR Community Council trustee and coordinator of the Pleasant Street North Community Garden, asked the city to make a vacant city-owned lot available for community garden plots; she said 19 people are on the garden waitlist and anticipated the lot could host raised beds for neighborhood youth while an RFP process runs.

Other public comments included broad critiques of federal policy and international conduct related to Gaza, reports about recent campus demonstrations at the University of Cincinnati, and objections to historic patterns of property receivership voiced by a speaker who traced the local receivership practice to a 1990s pilot.

On the council dais, President Parks introduced a resolution recognizing the All in Cincinnati Coalition as a 2025 Women’s History Month honoree and read the resolution text. Denisha Porter, identified by the vice mayor during comments, accepted the recognition and said the coalition would “put our heads down and keep doing the work.” Council members praised the coalition’s work on a financial freedom blueprint and racial-equity initiatives.

Council member Johnson presented and read a posthumous resolution honoring Officer Marcellus Jones, 33, including biographical details and the council’s appreciation for his service as a Cincinnati Police Department School Resource Officer. Johnson commended Jones’s “commitment to the young people” he worked with; Mayor Aftab Pureval, Chief Fiji and other speakers in the chamber extended condolences and highlighted Jones’s work with youth. The resolution passed by rising vote and was described as a posthumous, ceremonial recognition.

Council members also used the meeting to thank community groups and highlight upcoming events: a Victims Assistance Liaison Unit memorial (April 12 at Memorial Hall) and a social-services day at the new East Side Recreation Center (upcoming Saturday).

All public comments reported here are drawn from the citizens forum portion of the meeting. Council did not take formal action on the specific policing, surveillance or receivership allegations during the business session; speakers asked staff and elected officials to follow up or investigate.