Cleves Village residents call on council to restore local policing to enforce ordinances

Cleves Village residents urged the village council during public comment to restore a local police presence or marshal so ordinances can be enforced, saying recent lapses in enforcement have left neighborhoods unsafe.

At a public-comment period, Andrew Nixon, a resident, said: "Now that they've been gone, you can see the effect. I mean, we really we need the police back." Several other residents described speeding, persistent noise at night and animals running loose as problems they want addressed.

The call for restored local enforcement included appeals for some form of marshal or village-based officers who could issue citations for local ordinance violations that residents say the county does not enforce. "We have people that have dogs running around without leashes on, terrorizing other people's dog," Dakota Jennings said, describing repeated incidents she said have not been addressed. Carrie Samara, who said she has worked in revenue for 48 years, described speeding on her street and near-miss crashes: "Someone could be hit and killed. So this is something that we talked about even in the neighborhoods."

Council discussion during the meeting acknowledged gaps in the village's code of ordinances and a plan to compile and republish the village code. A council speaker said staff and outside contractors have been reviewing decades of ordinances and that new ordinances to close enforcement gaps — for issues such as tall grass and excessive noise — will be placed on future agendas. The speaker referenced publishing the updated code through American Legal Publishing.

Speakers also discussed the limits of county enforcement. One resident and the council noted the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department enforces the Ohio Revised Code, which does not always cover municipal ordinances the village wants enforced. Council staff said some communities have converted certain quality-of-life violations into enforceable misdemeanors to allow local officers to issue citations.

Residents asked operational questions about what a marshal or village-based force would look like — whether the position would be appointed or elected, whether the marshal could enforce both civil and criminal matters, and how the village would staff such roles. Council members and staff responded that the proposed marshal would serve as an administrative head and that further details — including hiring and enforcement authority — would be determined as the council continues its review and ordinance updates.

No formal motions or votes were recorded during the public-comment period on reinstating a police force or creating a marshal. Council members did state that staff will continue reviewing the code of ordinances and bringing draft ordinances to future meetings for consideration.

The meeting included several personal accounts of delays in emergency or nonemergency responses: one resident said a nonemergency call resulted in a half-hour wait on a porch and that a patrol later "rode by and never even woke". Residents also urged the council to prioritize a noise ordinance to address frequent late-night disturbances.

The council did not adopt any new ordinances during the session and gave no timetable for when a marshal position or restored local police presence might be implemented. Council members said they are continuing the code review and will bring proposed ordinance language to upcoming meetings for formal consideration.