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| Cincinnati offers Toledo a model in crime fight |
| By toledoblade.com - TAYLOR DUNGJEN |
| Published: 05/10/2012 |
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CINCINNATI -- Shawnie Williams has a 6-year-old son he wants to do better for. The 26-year-old hates that his son, Tre'Shawn, saw him under arrest. "I didn't want him to follow," Mr. Williams said on a recent morning, waiting outside a suburban apartment complex for the rest of his work crew. Mr. Williams, who lives with his son and his fiancee in Cincinnati's Evanston neighborhood -- a community once regarded as one of the most dangerous places in the city -- recently started a job landscaping at Harper's Point in Symmes Township. The job, paid through the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, isn't much. He makes $9.50 an hour, has no benefits or insurance, and, that particular day, woke up at 4:30 a.m. to wash his son's clothes before work. But there's a paycheck every two weeks, and he knows he'll make it home every evening. It's better than hustling, pushing weed and crack on Cincinnati street corners, wondering who is watching or if the next customer will pull out a gun. "I see the difference," Mr. Williams said. "I'm saving money, I don't have to look over my shoulder. I've been peaceful." The Cincinnati crime-reduction initiative, implemented in 2007 after a year with a record 90 homicides, is the model for Toledo's strategy -- the Toledo Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, or TCIRV, announced on April 17. Toledo police Chief Derrick Diggs and Mayor Mike Bell said the initiative, which kicked off at a meeting involving city leaders and nearly 40 parolees and probationers identified as gang members, is intended to reduce gang-related shootings and homicides, which in the past year increased significantly. Toledo police estimate that there are about 2,500 known gang members and 25 active gangs in the city, compared with about 1,460 known gang members and anywhere from 45 to 50 gangs in Cincinnati. In 2011, shootings in Toledo increased 73 percent to 210 from the 121 reported in 2010. Last year, Toledo -- which, according to the 2010 Census, had a population of 287,208 -- recorded 36 homicides, compared with 25 homicides in 2010. The city has had eight homicides so far this year. Cincinnati had a population of 296,943 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In many ways, Toledo's strategy will resemble what is being done in Cincinnati. Officials there say the initiative has been a success and is now a part of the fabric of the city. During a recent session in Toledo, gang members were told that violence in the city must stop or they will face arrest and jail time. Chief Diggs was clear: Anyone who shoots another person will be charged, and the shooters' fellow gang members will be investigated and charged with any criminal activity, no matter how minor. Read More. |
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