CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Two more homicides in Cincinnati add to a grim statistic -- nearly as many murders right now as all of 2018.
It's been four months since the city's police chief announced changes to curb shootings after a violent summer. And while most agree the changes are positive and working, the bullets continue to fly.
“We can’t sit and wait around for a unicorn or a lucky charm or a leprechaun to fall out of the sky to make this thing right for us,” said Mitchell Moris from the Cincinnati Works Phoenix Program, his frustration boiling over after another violent night. This time, a 22-year-old was shot to death in Avondale.
The victim in Avondale is homicide number 62 in Cincinnati for 2019 -- about 10% ahead of where we were in 2018 at this time and the three-year average year-to-date. And there does not appear to be a pause to the gun violence. There was another shooting Tuesday in Madisonville -- this time during a strong-arm robbery. Luckily, it does not appear this shooting will be fatal.
“The loss of any life is a tragedy,” said Chief Eliot Isaac in July as he announced a plan to address the violence following an especially deadly June. Much of the chief’s plan focused on putting more officers on the streets, which community leaders say they've noticed and say it's helping.
"They're relating to people,” said Rev. Peterson Mingo with the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence. “They're talking to people -- not trying to get info, but just fellowship with them. And it's giving people a different perspective on the police. Now as far as the shooters? Hey, there are going to be shooters."
And that is leading the homicide rate in the wrong direction unless there are no more homicides in the next two months.
Compare Cincinnati to Columbus. While the metro populations are about the same, the city of Columbus has twice the population. The two cities have similar population densities, but Cincinnati has nearly 40% more officers per capita.
And while the homicide numbers look markedly worse in Columbus -- ranging from 50 to 100 percent more murders than Cincinnati
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