A new partnership between the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the local U.S. Attorney’s Office is focused on prosecuting violent crime. Officials announced the effort Monday.
"We now have a full-time Special Assistant United States Attorney fully funded from the Attorney General's office in our office sitting in Cincinnati, whose mandate it is to bring violent crime and gun charges here in Cincinnati," said Dominick Gerace II, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
Allison Oswald, previously a Hamilton County prosecutor, joined the U.S. Attorney's office at the end of February.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says federally prosecuting violent crime, especially gun crimes, is important because federal penalties are much stricter that state penalties for the same offense.
"You take those people off the streets, it only stands to reason that you're reducing that relatively small number of people who are responsible for violent gun crime," Yost said.
This new position is the most recent aspect of the ongoing collaboration between the Cincinnati Police Department and state and federal agencies. Gerace also announced federal indictments of nine individuals on charges related to illegal possession of firearms. That's in addition to three defendants indicted earlier this month on federal charges related to shootings on Fountain Square last October and at Riverfront Live on March 1.
Interim Cincinnati Police Chief Adam Hennie says violent crime is the number one priority.
"We cannot combat that alone, and if it's not for these strong partnerships that we have with our federal agencies, our state, and our county, we can never complete that mission," Hennie said.
City officials recently published the results of a resident survey conducted last October; participants were randomly selected and match the demographics of the city according to age, race, gender, and income.
The survey revealed just 32% of residents are satisfied with overall feelings of safety in the city, and 50% are satisfied with feelings of safety in their own neighborhood. Hennie says he takes that seriously.
"I think a lot of it has to do with perception," Hennie said. "I could sit up here all day long, and I can tell you different crime stats, how things are down, how things are going — but if someone comes to Cincinnati and doesn't perceive themselves as being safe, well, that falls on me."
Hennie says the department plans to hire a second public information officer to help show the public more of the work CPD does.
The most recent police data shows so far this year (through March 7), violent crimes and property crimes citywide are down compared to last year and the three-year average.
However, there have been more shooting incidents, with 52 victims compared to 32 at this time last year. Fourteen people have been shot and killed so far this year.
Gerace says his office specifically monitors gun violence in the city.
"I've instructed my Assistant United States Attorneys here that we are paying attention to shootings, we're paying attention to violence on the ground," he said. "We're not saying that's a state problem or a local problem — that's our problem too."
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