Fighting for a Safer Community

By Nick Spencer

Nick Spencer's Crime & Safety Action Agenda

"FIGHTING FOR A SAFER COMMUNITY" A CRIME & SAFETY ACTION AGENDA

Cincinnati's Neighborhoods are under attack.

The wave of violent crime sweeping over our city is keeping us from growing at a critical point in our history; it is driving away residents, jobs, and tourists. Instead of working with and supporting the police, City Council has contributed to the problem by interfering with their work and sending the wrong message to our residents.

As an Over-the-Rhine resident and business owner, I've seen firsthand what violent crime and drugs can do to destroy a neighborhood. I've gone up against the dealers and thugs in an effort to clean up my block and make it safe for my customers, my friends, and my loved ones. I'm tired of seeing this lawless disregard for order, and I won't rest until I've made all of our neighborhoods safe again.

Below is my detailed Action Agenda for taking on the criminals terrorizing our streets. I've outlined specific recommendations, and explained how I plan to fund those initiatives. We CAN, and must, make this a safer community for all Cincinnatians.

The Spencer Pledge.

To make a visible demonstration of my support for our police department, I pledge to spend at least one night each week of my term on Council riding along with our officers. I want to become intimately familiar with the job they have to do, and learn more about how I can help them make our neighborhoods safe again.

I further pledge to support our officers by ensuring that they are among the best-compensated in the nation, and I will always seek and listen to their advice on important safety-related issues such as anti-drug barricades, tasers, and the gang unit.

What We Must Do...

Re-Instate the Safety Director position.

I will propose re-instating the Safety Director position, which was done away with in the aftermath of the 2001 riots. Our City needs a Safety Director to help plan, coordinate, and implement our public safety strategy. The Director will act as an advocate for the City during contract negotiations with the Police and Fire Departments, speak on their behalf before City Council, oversee implementation of the Collaborative Agreement, and help determine budgeting levels for all safety-related departments. The Safety Director will also work to build strong relationships between our public safety personnel and the community, through education, interaction, and involvement.

Hire at least 200 more uniformed police officers.

On Council, I will propose adding at least 200 new recruits to the ranks of our police department, over the next 4-5 years. These recruits will make an immediate impact in our neighborhoods, increasing and strengthening our police presence. They will also free up veteran officers to work on important task forces like the Vice Unit and the Gang Unit. I will also propose creating a 90-day citizen panel made up of safety experts, community advocates, and former police officers to determine what staffing levels will be needed in our department to return crime to pre-2001 levels.

To help pay for these staffing increases ($8.6 million per year), I will propose managed competition for all non-safety related departments (estimated savings upwards of $4 million per year), with the savings realized from this program being directed towards hiring more safety employees. I will also propose elimination of the Human Services Budget (typically $4 million per year), with the dollars instead going to payroll for safety employees.

Provide More Money for Police Overtime Visibility.

Police Overtime Visibility funds pay for most of the walking patrols our department performs in our neighborhoods. I will propose dramatically increasing our police presence through an increase in overtime visibility spending, putting more officers out on the street, on foot.

To fund this vital initiative, I will propose the implementation of Red Light traffic cameras at various intersections throughout the city. The money collected by these cameras (projected at $2 million dollars the first year, and $4 million each subsequent year) can be tied directly to more walking patrols, and by their very nature they insure more officers spend their time on duty fighting serious crimes, instead of writing tickets.

Increase Neighborhood Policing & Walking Patrols.

Our neighborhoods need police officers out on the street, fighting crime, not behind desks or in Council Chambers. I will work to reduce and streamline the paperwork burden our officers face, and partner with the county to reduce the amount of time our officers must spend in court. I will propose a thorough study to determine how we can use civilian employees, retired officers, and volunteers to conduct non-arrest related police business.

Through the above mentioned Red Light Cameras, as well as a partnership with the Ohio Highway Patrol, we can further increase the number officers on neighborhood patrols by nearly eliminating the need for traffic watch shifts.

I will also oppose any proposal to centralize our various investigative units, which would take officers off the streets and place them behind desks. Such a move would go against the best advice of our policing experts and would do nothing to stem the crime epidemic.

Implement the Compstat program.

Compstat is a groundbreaking computer program that is credited with helping to clean up New York City during Rudy Guiliani's terms as Mayor. The program collects, analyzes and electronically maps crime and quality of life data in breathtaking detail, helping the Police determine where to deploy their resources most effectively. The Cincinnati Neighborhood Support Center, a non-profit group, has offered to coordinate a full Compstat evaluation of the city. I will work to provide funding for this initiative, and work with the Police and Neighborhood Safety advocates to make sure it succeeds.

To pay for this initiative (which the NSC estimates will cost $500,000 dollars), I will direct that funds collected through police impoundment go to this important project.

Create a Housing Court & Blight Team to Crack Down on Bad Landlords.

We must crack down on the absentee landlords who offer safe haven to the criminals terrorizing our streets. Too many of our neighborhoods have fallen victim to parasitic real estate speculators, who acquire properties then neglect them, waiting for their values to go up. Working with local judges and the Ohio Supreme Court, I will push for a fully-realized Housing Court that holds property owners accountable for their buildings, and forces them to comply with the law and community standards. I will work to expand and strengthen City Hall's Blight Team, which is responsible for targeting trouble buildings throughout the city and enforcing building and code violations. I will propose that Blight Team members spend time each day doing walkthroughs of our neighborhoods, taking an inventory of blighted properties.

The current "Housing Docket" is too little, too late. With the addition of a real housing court, as well as the Blight Team, we can take the fight to where the criminals live.

Crack Down on "Quality of Life" Crimes.

While violent crimes are often the most noticed, the reality is that most violence springs from illicit trades referred to as "Quality of Life" crimes. In order to prevent more homicides and shootings, our city must adopt a zero tolerance policy towards drug dealing, prostitution, car break-ins and theft, and curfew violations. Perpetrators of these crimes must no longer be able to ply their trades out in the open on our corners.

I will propose increased penalties for drug and prostitution crimes, and will work with the police to take back our neighborhoods through anti-drug barricades, undercover vice efforts, and crime sweeps.

Use New and Proven Technologies to Disrupt Open-Air Drug Markets.

I will push to give police and neighborhood safety groups the tools they need to disrupt and destroy the corner drug trade that's slowly killing many of our neighborhoods. Through new technology like surveillance cameras and gunshot sensors, proven solutions such as fencing and floodlights, and unconventional answers like loudspeakers playing classical music and attention-getting signage, we can reclaim our corners.

These initiatives can be paid for by keeping the Clean & Safe Neighborhood Fund as a line-item in next year's budget. This fund awards grants to community councils and neighborhood safety groups for crime and quality of life-related projects. I will also work to build a greater awareness of this important program, and encourage more applications.

Keep Criminals Behind Bars Through Jail Expansion.

Cincinnati and Hamilton County are facing a jail-space crisis that threatens the safety of all our neighborhoods. Criminals are being released for serious crimes like drug dealing and prostitution just moments after their initial arrest. I will work with the County Government to find a suitable site for a new jail facility, and will pledge city funding towards its construction.

I believe the new jail site should be outside of city limits, and any funding pledge will have to come with veto power over site determination. I strongly oppose expanding the Justice Center at Broadway Commons.

To pay for this pledge, I will push for the immediate sale of the Blue Ash Airport, which is valued between 20 and 30 million dollars. I will propose that these funds be used for Public Safety Capital Expenses.

FOR MORE POSITION PAPERS AND ISSUE STATEMENTS, VISIT SPENCER2005.COM!