Cincinnati Police didn't have too far to go to begin round one of a crackdown targeting gang members allegedly dealing drugs and guns in East Price Hill.
The SWAT team executed a search warrant at 3216 Warsaw, diagonal from District Three Police Headquarters, where two shootings happened last weekend. That was just the beginning.
By 2:00 Tuesday police say they had arrested 14 of the 29 people wanted. One involved a car chase into Kentucky.
CIRV Project Manager S. Gregory Baker said he's sorry it had to come to this. "These are efforts of last resort, to actually kick in doors, arrest and send them away for the rest of their life. What we want them to do is stop the shootings, stop the killings and stop the violence occurring in our city."
- Violent crime is down overall in East Price Hill by 10%, but police and the community were concerned after a rash of shootings this year
Col. Paul Humphries, in explaining the investigation said, "This is what it's all about. We're going after the gangs who are committing the crimes in our neighborhoods, the ones who come to our attention-so we are using crime analysis and intelligence to identify them, who they're hanging around with, who they're committing crimes with and who might be a possible victim."
Efforts to make Price HIll safer are ongoing. As WVXU reported last month, CPD Captain Dan Gerard talked about this while taking the Board of Realtors on a tour.
Police say these criminals, at one time or another, were offered a way out of their life of crime, but they didn't take it.