This summer in Cincinnati has been like many others — tragic shootings have grabbed headlines and caused heartache.
Police officials acknowledge the seriousness of those incidents, but say the city is heading in the right direction.
Police Chief Teresa Theetge Tuesday told Cincinnati City Council's Public Safety and Governance Committee that both violent and property crime are down from this time last year, and from the city's three-year average.
"Our shooting incidents are down," she said. "Our number of shooting victims are down. Our other violent crime categories are down."
RELATED: Cincinnati Police say response times have improved after closing District 5 HQ
Overall, violent crime is down about 6% from this time last year and 8% from the city's three-year average.
Shootings have dropped about 13% from the city's three-year average, CPD data suggests.
That drop extends to juvenile victims of shootings. There were 19 people between the ages of 11 and 17 hit by bullets in Cincinnati so far this year. Last year at this time that number was 35.
Property crime dropped about 13% since this time last year as well, according to the report Theetge gave Council. But it's up by less than 1% over the three-year average.
A continued area of concern: car thefts and thefts of firearms from cars. Thefts from Kias and Hyundais are still high, though the number of successful theft attempts has dropped somewhat. Some models of those brands have vulnerabilities to theft, police say.
There have been about 263 firearms stolen so far this year. That's a small decline compared with previous trends since 2022.
CPD Senior Crime Analyst Jillian Desmond told City Council there's some good news in the numbers, but also areas for concern.
"The good news is, we're down in all of our crime categories," she said. "That is true across the country. A lot of the bigger cities like us are seeing that exact trend. The important thing here is there can be variations geographically and inside the smaller types of crime."
One example is personal theft, which ticked up about 3% from this time last year.
"That is one of the only categories I believe we are up in," Theetge said. "For a victim, that's a big deal, to have something stolen from you."
RELATED: Traffic enforcement is still less than pre-pandemic, but so are traffic crashes
Desmond and Theetge noted that most shootings, for example, took place in just four neighborhoods: Over-the-Rhine, West End, Avondale and Roselawn. Overall, most CPD response to crime happens in about 4% of the city, Theetge said.
The department made an adjustment to the way it gathers its data and reports it this year due to changes in Ohio law. It now separates out reports of strangulations in its violent crime reporting. This is in part to better track domestic violence. The incidents are now reported as a subcategory of aggravated assault.
You can read the full CPD summer crime update on the city's website.