Community Policing to Prevent Gun Crime Essay

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Crime Prevention PlanIntroductionThe city of Cincinnati, OH, is seeing an increase of violent crime and gun shootings in the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) community. Since 2000, OTR has been a major source of frustration for the city: it is on the northern side of the city’s business district where residences and small business owners dwell together in the city’s oldest neighborhood. For decades OTR housed the city’s poorest residents, but since 2000 the city has poured billions into fixing up the community, painting buildings and offering incentives to business owners. The goal has been to create new parks, new businesses, revitalize residences and tap into the community’s historical strengths as a midway point in the city between the urban business district on the river and the uptown college area. However, last year saw the city set a record number of homicides at 94, which represented a 30% increase from 2019, many of those homicides occurring in OTR (Baker, 2021). Following the infusion of billions of dollars, OTR was initially envisioned as a place where residents of suburban neighborhoods could come, shop, dine, and be entertained. However, as many residents were displaced by the revitalization campaign, and an already existing homeless problem was never addressed, the crime problems in OTR never really went away but were only exacerbated by the city’s attempt to sweep them aside. Gang growth, drug dealing, and prostitution have not diminished, and now gun violence is risen dramatically, with officers removing 750 firearms from the street after only three quarters in 2021 (Baker, 2021). This paper will serve as a crime prevention plan to address the OTR neighborhood and its role in the city’s crime problem. The four-stage problem-solving process will be conducted by first identifying the research objectives and methods used; what information was collected so as to identify the nature, scope and causes of crime and disorder in the OTR community; analysis of the root causes of the crime in the community; and what the strategy for addressing this issue will be.Research Objectives and MethodsThe objective of this research is to understand the nature and extent of the crime in the OTR community, what its causes are, and how this crime can be prevented. The methods used included researching theories in criminology, including Broken Windows Theory, Life Course Theory, Social Bond Theory, as well as crime prevention models. Additionally, the concept of restorative justice is explored to understand how it might help in the OTR community.Data on the city’s crime was obtained from the City Council’s Law and Public Safety meeting at which the city’s police chief disclosed the crime statistics affecting the city and OTR. Data was then compared to other communities, where similar problems have occurred, with a view of analyzing how those cities addressed the problem. Poverty, school attendance, gang activity, arrests, and community action plans make up the main data entries for this analysis. These data were obtained from publicly available sources.The goal of this research is to understand why crimes in OTR are occurring and what strategy can be employed to prevent crime.

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To this end, a literature review is conducted in the next section that explores the various theories of crime. Also conducted is a brief analysis of two other cities—Mesa, AZ, and New York City—to determine what they have done to address crime problems in the past. Following this, the data collected on the OTR community in Cincinnati is presented and analyzed, and the plan for preventing crime is provided.ResearchLiterature ReviewSocial Bond TheorySocial bond theory holds that people need to establish social bonds with others in their community in order…

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…used to prevent crime.The community is the ultimate source of expression when it comes to OTR, and it is where the final push for gun crime prevention in the community will take place. The community must come together at every level—education, organization, business, employment, training, counseling, law enforcement, economic support, housing, and recreation. Opportunities have to be created, and character has to be strengthened, for it is the character of the community that will determine the extent to which crime prevention is successful. Community should be fostered by incentives that promote organization and the establishment of long-term roots in the area.ConclusionGun crime in the OTR neighborhood of Cincinnati has increased in recent years and is now a serious problem that makes the area unsafe for residents and for business owners. The gun crime stems from a rise in gang activity, poverty, lack of employment opportunities, and an existing zone of transition in the neighborhood. These underlying issues have to be addressed one by one and all together. The main points that will support this initiative will be to prevent crime by reducing the risks that facilitate criminal opportunities: that means enhancing the social bonds of the community through organization and investment—not just for businesses but also for low-income families and residents; providing training, counseling, tutoring and mentorship for OTR youths so that they have alternatives to gang activity; implementing restorative justice hubs so that punitive justice and incarceration do not further undermine the structure and stability of families and so that restitution rather than isolation can be the endgame of justice in OTR. This will further facilitate the development of social bonds. Community policing needs to be established more firmly in OTR but also arrests should be increased and should be based on publicly-stated criteria so that there is maximum transparency….....

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"Community Policing To Prevent Gun Crime" (2021, December 10) Retrieved June 25, 2025, from
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"Community Policing To Prevent Gun Crime" 10 December 2021. Web.25 June. 2025. <
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"Community Policing To Prevent Gun Crime", 10 December 2021, Accessed.25 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/community-policing-prevent-gun-crime-2180669