Cincinnati spent millions on anti-violence programs. Why are bullets still flying? (Cincinnati Enquirer 7.7.25) Zinser Op-Ed 014

When a violent parolee who illegally cut off his ankle monitor, invaded the home of Patrick and Sarah Heringer in Over-the-Rhine and murdered Patrick, Sarah’s voice went out to the entire city in a very profound way. She summed up the city’s violent crime problem with three words. The city is all about, “Optics over Outcomes.”

The city’s “holistic” “Blueprint for Reducing Violence,” called “ACT for Cincy,” is Exhibit 1 for the city’s “optics over outcomes.”  ACT for Cincy is a $3 million social services program sold to the city’s residents as a violence reduction program. The program has no discernable way to measure any impact the program has on violence reduction, only how much money it is distributing to numerous non-profit organizations in the name of violence reduction.

It was telling, but not surprising, that the mayor said nothing about the city’s so-called “blueprint” during his appearance on WVXU’s  “Cincinnati Edition,” on July 2, 2025, or any time earlier in the wake of Mr. Heringer’s murder.

Cincinnati spent millions on anti-violence programs. Why are bullets still flying

ACT-for-Cincy-Blueprint_January-2025