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A blue and white sign on a light post in a White Castle parking lot — “No Loitering: Police Enforced” — signals two of Price Hill’s frustrations: police enforcement and loitering youth.
An April 20 forum at the Price Hill Community Center drew residents eager to voice complaints and police eager to explain what they’re doing and what they can’t do.
Price Hill consistently ranks in Cincinnati’s top five neighborhoods plagued by serious crime. But most of the 75 people at the forum didn’t complain about murders or rapes. They complained mostly about large groups of youth blocking streets, deterring customers from businesses, causing late-night noise and dealing drugs.
The forum, organized by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), included discussion of police visibility and response times.
“I know your frustration,” said Capt. Andrew Raabe, commander of Cincinnati Police District 3. “We’ve got some of the same frustrations. I know everything’s not perfect.”
When ear plugs fail
District 3 handles the largest percentage of the city’s radio calls and also covers one of the largest areas of the city, according to Raabe. The district has 132 patrol officers covering more than 20 square miles and about 95,000 residents.
The response time for Cincinnati Police is comparable to cities of similar size, according to Raabe. For emergency calls, the average response time in District 3 is 4.25 minutes, he said. The citywide average is slightly faster, 3.42 minutes. Non-emergency calls average 9.2 minutes in District 3 but can take up to two hours during the busiest hours, Raabe said.
That’s not good enough for ACORN member Stephanie Vaughn. She and ACORN co-chair Robin Duffy demanded police put more officers on foot, horseback and bicycle. Vaughn’s 8-year-old daughter rode into the room on a motorized scooter adorned by a toy horse, roller blades, walking shoes and a toy bicycle.
With a crowd of discontented citizens watching, Vaughn and Duffy convinced Raabe to sign a poster board stating he would work with ACORN and Price Hill residents to create a community-based policing policy.
Raabe said police already practice community problem-oriented policing. Officers meet biweekly with representatives from other city departments, such as building inspections and the health department, to address complaints from residents, he said.
But Vaughn and Duffy differentiate between community problem-oriented policing and community-based policing. Police need to be visibly present on the streets, Vaughn said.
“There are fiscal realities to a lot of the things we do,” Raabe responded.
Duffy said she understands the police are limited. But she and Vaughn said something must be done about teenagers loitering.
“I’m hearing more gunshots and more young children walking up and down the street,” Vaughn said. “I’m a realist. If they don’t have anything better to do but stand on the corner, they are going to get into trouble.”
Duffy said the gatherings, which sometimes include loud music from parked cars, keep her awake at night, despite the earplugs she wears.
“We are being barraged by a population that is very inconsiderate,” she said.
‘Make them uncomfortable’
Vaughn said police should clear the corner every hour. But in most cases, loitering is perfectly legal.
“If there’s not a criminal act, you can’t just tell someone they can’t stand on the sidewalk,” Raabe said.
In 1971 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Cincinnati’s loitering law unconstitutional. But under pressure from citizens, Raabe said police have tried to discourage groups of youth from gathering.
“That’s where we’ve utilized the curfew law,” he said. “We’re telling officers we need to take enforcement if they’re out jaywalking. We want to make it uncomfortable for people just to hang around, because we feel it causes problems or starts fights.”
City Councilman David Pepper said enforcing drug laws while protecting the right to hang out is tricky.
“One of the parts that gets tough is that people start to have a hard time telling the difference between the two,” he said. “It’s this constant tension. It’s obvious that we in Cincinnati haven’t found where the ideal point is where you’re proactive and aggressive and make it safe — and there’s broad community buy-in to how you’re doing it.”
Last year council passed Pepper’s bill banning “Loitering with the Intention of Committing Unlawful Drug Transactions.” The law allows officers to arrest certain loiterers. For example, if a person in an area notorious for drug dealing warns others that police are near, he can be arrested.
“I think we’ve gone as far as we can go on that issue,” Pepper said.
Three people have been arrested for violating the law, according to police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd.
Duffy said ACORN’s next demand might be an officer on each shift devoted to quality of life issues.
“I’m not going away,” she said. ©
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2004.
