Shooting statistics show positive signs amid violent stretch in Cincinnati
Despite a violent week and weekend in Cincinnati, violence is trending down across the city so far this year.
Over the weekend, Cincinnati police responded to shootings in several different neighborhoods, including a homicide in East Price Hill Saturday, a 7-year-old girl shot outside an apartment complex in Avondale Saturday and a 14-year-old arrested Sunday, accused of shooting at a police officer in Westwood.
According to Cincinnati police, 146 people have been shot in Cincinnati so far this year. That is a 3.3% reduction from 2022, a 7.6% reduction from 2021 and a 10% reduction over the past three years.
As of June 5, Cincinnati police are investigating 27 homicides this year. At this point in 2022 and in 2021, there were 32 homicides under investigation.
The police department's closure rate for homicides is consistently higher than the national average tracked by the FBI.
The majority of murders in the city are being solved.
In 2022, CPD solved 72% of its homicides. It solved 74% in 2021 and 70% in 2020.
So far in 2023, the homicide unit has solved 67% of its caseload, with seven months to go.
But the positive signs in the statistics mean little in the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
"Our kids should not have to feel like they're living in a war zone. And I think that people are so desensitized to it that we don't pay attention to it," said Te'Airea Powell with the East Westwood Improvement Association.
Cincinnati police and city leaders are working on a response plan. The greatest concern is youth violence, which continues to increase in the city and across the country.