'We're on the frontline': East Westwood looks to City Hall for help after shooting

Robert Moore, the vice president of the East Westwood Community Council, was on his way to a cookout June 12 when he got the call. Two children and two teenagers had been shot at a store on McHenry Avenue.

A 6-year-old and an 8-year-old were injured. More than a week later, the older child remains in the hospital. One of the two teens who were shot was arrested and charged in the incident.

Four days later, Moore was at City Hall with his colleagues pleading with city leaders.

"I'm not here to point any fingers, but to ask for support," Moore said. "We're on the frontline. We just need support. It's hard to do it by ourselves."

For Moore and the others on the community council, the violence is personal.

In 2007, before he was a teacher at Carson Elementary and before he started up his youth sports non-profit, he was shot at the exact same convenience store.

He was 22 and was home from Central State University for the weekend, he said. He had went to the store on the corner of McHenry and Cavanaugh avenues for some snacks when two men in masks attempted a robbery and started shooting. He tried to run, but was struck in the leg, he said.

In that shooting, much like the one this month, a 12-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl were both hit by stray bullets.

'Your absence sent a message'

For years, the people of East Westwood felt like they didn't have a home. Some considered it North Fairmount, the police said it was Westwood, others said it was South Cumminsville.

It wasn't until 1990 that the community got together and lobbied to be their own neighborhood. They felt overlooked, like they were in a "limbo," according to an Enquirer article from the time.

Westwood representatives even complained about name they chose.

Unfortunately, Moore and other leaders say the feeling still exists. Westwood seems to focus on its core, they said, while the city focuses on development elsewhere. Meanwhile, East Westwood tries to take care of its own.

The neighborhood has had its ups and downs with violence. It was once even touted as a success story.

In 2017, the Cincinnati Police Department created a documentary about its efforts to lower violent crime there and in a portion of Westwood.

The small neighborhood of about 2,500 shares a border with Cincinnati's biggest neighborhood of Westwood, but is also clustered next to Millvale, English Woods and the Villages of Roll Hill. These smaller neighborhoods are (or were) mostly made up of sprawling apartment complexes.

Now, crime is back up – at least on paper. Between 2019 and 2020, incidents of crime rose 40% in the neighborhood while Millvale, Westwood and the Villages of Roll Hill all saw decreases in overall crime.

For TeAirea Powell, this points to another problem the neighborhood is having with the city: a lack of communication. She said she's heard rumors that the boundaries of East Westwood were changed by the city, which could have led to the increased crime, but no one from the city has told her if this is true or not.

"Saturday was tragic," Powell told the mayor and city council. "Myself and other leaders from the community were at the crime scene for hours, and not one of you showed up ... Your absence sent a message that we simply don't matter."

Gun violence across the city and the country skyrocketed last year when the pandemic took hold. Cincinnati has seen some improvements over 2020, but the rate of shootings has still not fallen back down to pre-pandemic levels.

'Growing up here, it was safe'

Under a tent at the Third Presbyterian Church, Moore, Powell and other leaders in East Westwood stand watch over the basketball court they worked to build. Their radios chatter as they coordinate to distribute free meals to kids.

Other than a handful of convenience stores, the neighbor doesn't have a grocery. The Kroger on Harrison Avenue that used to serve the community moved out years ago. It was replaced with an Aldi and then a Save-A-Lot, but now a plasma donation center fills the space.

Rodney Christian is the president of the community council. He said the church has been a lifesaver for the community.

When there was a shootout in May in the neighborhood, he said two of the teens armed with guns came there to blend in after they exchanged shots with a passing car. But he contacted the police and separated them from the other kids.

"That could have been some bodies right there," Christian said. "Even when things were good, we always needed recreation. It could be worse."

But he and others of the community council say with some city support they could do more for the kids. There are places where they could build more parks, but they don't control the land. Speed bumps, lighting, cameras and increased patrols could increase safety, Christian said, adding that store owners should face repercussions if they allow crime to happen on their property.

"I truly believe this council has proven themselves," Christian said.

Powell said that other neighbors, bigger more affluent neighborhoods, seem to get a lot more in terms of grants and opportunities. She said the city came with its programs in 2016 to address the violence, but since then East Westwood has been overlooked.

She and Moore both think that life has changed in the neighborhood since they grew up there, and more needs to be done to address it.

"Growing up here, it was safe," Moore said. "Now drugs and violence have taken over the whole community. I wouldn't let my kids go up and down the street."

Powell said: "We were kids who were able to be kids. Today, you see kids put in adult situations."

The East Westwood Community Council is now the biggest its been in years. Christian said they have the desire and track record to make a difference, but they just need resources.

'An island of resources that just got washed away'

Jacob Hicks is the District 3 neighborhood liaison sergeant. It's his job to work with groups like the community council to combat crime.

He said the work the department did to help the neighborhood in 2016 continues, but a major contributor to increased crime in East Westwood and elsewhere has been the pandemic.

"We've had an island of resources that just got washed away with COVID," Hicks said.

Events, school sports, festival, cookouts, fish frys all stopped during the pandemic, but Hicks said the best resource for getting information about what's really happening in a neighborhood is community council meetings.

Many of those groups have just started meeting again after more than a year. Some moved to an online platform, but most stopped altogether.

At these meetings, officers tell the residents about what the crime statistics are, what types of crimes they are seeing and if any significant arrests have been made.

But Hicks said the police get back so much more. It's at these meetings people will mention tips or problems they are having. They will also chat with the officers casually and allowing real relationships to develop.

Hicks said police are still working closely with businesses to improve lighting and surveillance. Directed patrols and other tactics are being used to have a presence, and it's worked by whittling down the crew of drug dealers and criminals who worked there, but nothing replaces that real-world connection and resources for police are also finite.

The shooting on the 12th was hard on Hicks. He said he has an 8-year-old child at home.

"This is a tough one," he said. "I wish we could sit up there for 24 hours a day."

The Cincinnati Police Department offers rewards for information leading to arrests and also takes tips anonymously through the CrimeStoppers hotline at 513-352-3040.