Billy cunning him the Great America. Welcome this Tuesday afternon the Triesteate. Great things are going on, I hope, and I've done some copious research. When the Bengals went to the super Bowl at the nine games, they were five and four, went to the super Bowl. Right now they're two and four. But if and when they beat the Steelers on Thursday, there's three and four, then at home against the Jester, four and four. Then the Bears at home they're five and four with Joe Flacco leading the away.
With Ted McKay.
So if the Bengals are five and four, they're going to the super Bowl because the Bills aren't that good and Kansas City can be beaten, I think. But until then, we have major problems in River City. And once again there's massive shootouts on Fountain Square headline on Channel five last night. Five people shot in less than eight hours across Cincinnati Hambleton County, And of course Shari Poelo had the story with the Power of five and Shari Poelo,
welcome again to the Bill Cunningham Show. And first of all, Shari, I want to ask you some fundamental questions. Are you prepared for some questions I think so ten or fifteen
years ago. You might recall memories go back that long that my wife was on Common Police Court bench and she would receive messages at eight o'clock emails from the Sheriff's office saying we're accepting no prisoners today, and every Common Police Court judgementicipal court judge in Hemlinic County would get an eight o'clock wake up call saying, don't sentence anybody to the jail were packed, and so the next day the same thing would go on.
The next day, the same thing would go on.
And so side Lease and Joe Deeters put together a proposal for the voters to decide whether to build a second Hamley County jail, to put another thousand beds in Hamlty County because of the criminal activity that was going on, and it was voted down fifty three to forty seven. The people said, we don't want to, we don't want to spend I don't know it was like eighty million dollars to build a second Hemlic County jail. So the
resolution to that was quit arresting people. Here we are ten to fifteen years later, and guess what, According to Judge Josh Berkowitz, the presiding judge and heimin County Municipal Court. There's four hundred empty beds in the Hammer County jail as I speak, four hundred beds are empty. So you can only imagine if we would have built another thousand beds somewhere in Queensgate, we'd have fourteen hundred empty beds.
Now, the question is this, is there's so.
Little crime in the city of Cincinnati happening now that all of a sudden the criminal element, which ages out about the age of thirty, have quit committing crimes. That somehow there's not shootouts, somehow there's not car breakings, somehow there's not warns out for arrest. Suddenly, all of a sudden, forty percent of the so called criminal populace, whoever they are,
have quit committing crimes. Or is it a case of city police not arresting judges, no cash bonds, and a permissive restorative justice attitude, Which is it shri palelo, as all of a sudden, we're now crime free in Cincinnati?
Is that what's going on?
Sadly, I think you and I both know the answer that, and I remember what you're talking about. I remember sitting in and interviewing Siweez about this issue and him wanting to build another jail, and of course that's not popular and glamorous. Nobody wants to spend you know, city and county dollars on that. But of course that's not the case,
and we're seeing it night in and night out. You know, I definitely think it's unfortunately become and we hear it all the time, a revolving door where you get these people who many of them, I can't tell you how many times. Even the victims who we put on the news who are shot and killed typically or stabbed to death, the victims' pictures that we get are month shots because
they oftentimes are involved in criminal activity. And so unfortunately, again we talk about, well, okay, do we need more police officers, do we need the state to help to help out? Let me let me just for the people who don't follow this as closely as you do, and I do really, Let me just take people back in the last week, six days ago, so a week ago today, we had a guy shot in the finger of the hand. He was in a car, gotten some sort of argument.
He was shot right near Fountain Square, right there at Walnut. This is during rush hour. People were literally running because they're leaving work, walking around Fountain Square hearing gunshots and they're running to their cars or running back into work. Here we are a week later, last night, seven point thirty City Bird Fountain Square again before the sun goes down.
It is packed. There are people in restaurants. This is literally right across the street from Jeff Ruby's, right next door to other restaurants that are filled with people getting something to eat. And these guys again, let's see a sixteen to seventeen year old grazed by a bullet at an adult shot in the thigh. Two people we know are in custody. But let me just tell you there were two officers nearby on Fountain Square. There were two excuse me, there were two on Fountain Square, two more
nearby and other officers at Government Square. So to sit there last night, they were where are the police? Well, the police were there. They responded immediately. In fact, thank goodness, they were there because they were able to track down two people who they think were involved in are now in custody. But that's just last night. One incident. We had a shooting in Westwood an hour earlier, one person died.
Still waiting on the information about the victims specifically right now they're searching for a car that they think is connected to Blue Tesla. Then they're late last night West End, eleven year old young guy shot in the leg at an apartment ends up running to a fire station for help. Overnight, we have a guy arrives at Mercy Health along Queen City. He was shot, expected to survive. So, just as you said in the last in eight hours across the Hamilton
County we had five people shot. Two of them if you count the one grade was at Fountain Square. But then we had the same thing happened nearby at Fountain Square a week earlier. The chief is out there last night. She's, of course saying all of the right things. We can't tolerate this. We've got a statement from the mayor. I mean, but again, here's what it is, Lilli, and you, I think hit the nail on the head. There has to be more of a deterrent. It's like when you parent kids.
And I remember years ago when I had one of my boys was kind of hanging with the row the crowd, and you know, I would say, if you get in trouble. You're you know, if you do this, you're going to get in trouble. If you do this, you're going to get in trouble. And I wasn't really following through. And then finally I dropped the hammer, right. I called every parent who I thought their kid was involved and said, listen,
this happened on my watch. It's my son's, you know, responsibility, it's my responsibility.
Guess what.
All of his friends were suddenly mad at him, alienated him. We never had a problem again. But leading up to it, I was being soft. I didn't want him to you know, I didn't want his friends to be mad at him. I didn't want to be the bad guy, right, And I liken it to what we're seeing right now. If right now, by the way, and I don't know if you've talked about this on your show. Back in I think it was May the House passed a Repeat Offender Act.
It specifically in Ohio, targets people with prior violent felonies. It would increase prison term for any violent offender who has a gun after some sort of previous felony conviction. Well, where is it. It's sitting in the Senate right now. I mean that those are the people that you have to send a message. Even if you are involved in a violent crime that involves a gun, you're going to go to prison. You're not going to sit in the Hamilton County jail for one hundred and I don't know
eighty days, whatever it is. Because right now, these gun offenses varied depending on you know, your criminal history and the offense, and they can range anywhere from a misdemeanor to a felony. So that's the problem. I mean, we unfortunately have people who continue to commit crimes, who are back out on the street immediately.
In fact, the chiefs of police in Hamilty County got together about a month ago and said, we can't stand this anymore because we send people down in the justice center, they're out on no cash bonds, they're out committing more crimes. Before the paperwork is done, the criminal is out. Secondly, the mayor about a month ago had a big powwow with the governor and the FBI. The CIA was there, the ATF, the US Marshal Service, Prosecutor's Office, sheriff for
everybody was there. We're going to bring in bringing the adults to help us so that we have availability of our cops to do more serious policing. And immediately Mayor iris Roli said that's not going to fly. She wasn't present for it. Scottie Johnson wasn't present for it. Lemon Kearney wasn't present for it, and they quickly told the
mayor this is not gonna fly. In fact, lemon Kearney device mayor held news conferences saying we don't need these people here, and so the highway Patrol being here with all the state resources, was told not to come. The agreement says two ships a month, and ken Kober says they haven't arrived yet because the Mayor's not calling them and Mayor iris Roly doesn't want it.
And so when there's no.
Recognition that we don't need outside help, we got this.
When they don't have this, where do you go with that?
Well, exactly, and honestly, that was a huge dog and povie show. I think we all were like, Okay, this is showing some sort of improvement. We're all going to work together, We're going to get this help. We're going to be partnering up with with the FEDS, with our UH with with marshals hopefully they were saying they were going to be apprehending violent offenders. We're talking about people who are violating role post release. They're going to be
you know, watching by air aerial supervision. But to be honest with you, Willie, then I heard when I looked closer at the agreement and we saw, oh what would be it said quote no more than two times a month. And as you said, I haven't heard of one time us working with them. And we had this huge news conference where it all you know, I mean, the news conference went on for well over an hour. It was, you know, everybody and their brother was there talking about this,
how we're going to be walking together, working together. I've yet to hear anything about that. And again, but if you do that, the whole point of that was, Okay, if we bring in the FED, if we actually start charging some of these repeat offenders with federal charges instead of just state and local charges, then we're really going to lock them up and send them to prison. But
guess what, Really, this is such a broader issue. I've done so many stories on even our prisons releasing these violent by I'm talking murderers and repeat offenders, violent offenders. We get money if we keep people here locally, so if we don't send him to the state prison. I mean, it's such a cycle, an endless cycle, that we're not addressing.
Well, it's not only the mayor not having sufficient police resources. It's not only the mayor not accepting state help. Not only the mayor, the whole system. I look at Patrick Herringer and what they did with that to with Mordecai Blacks say he was released and then he butchers Patrick Herringer and Sarah is now and then Sarah was arrested for eight hours.
I still have an explanation.
How you arrest Sarah Herringer, put her in handcuffs leader outside the bloody our home of our bloody's husband. Body is lying in locker roup for eight hours. I have no idea. And then common police court judges collapse, the probation system in the outside of the city of Cincinnati collapse that system.
And it's not just the.
Mayorf to have pureval or Mayor Irish Rolli, whoever's in charge. It's the idea that Judge Kerry Bloom and Juvenile Court so far this year has bound over one felony is their sixteen and seventeen year old gang bangers with guns, hurting people, shooting people. One time has gone to common police court. It used to be a pipeline. If you use a gun and you're sixteen or seventeen, adult crime, adult crime. That problem needs to be fixed. And we
have an election coming up in three weeks. I'd be shocked. I'd be shocked if the voters of Cincinnati said we can't take it anymore. And then you live in the Mason area. I see Procter and Gamble without making an announcement. Their employees are telling P and G, we don't want to come downtown, and so they're building a huge facility, expanding it in Mason, and they're telling employees, if you want to work from home, you're going to work from home because when you get out of work, you might
be shot. And so incrementally, slowly downtown's going to hollow out. Does that concern you? Macy's is gone, They have apartments down there now. PNG would be a great apartment building complex. PNG Corporate America is deciding not to issue a press release that's bad for business. But quietly they're going to incrementally take jobs away.
And I think Unfortunately a lot of people they don't want to hear it in many of our leaders and who are trying to do great work down there with the Chamber. I mean, look, we're building a brand new convention center where we're trying we're going to tell the country, hey,
come here, hold your convention here. Well, if you can't go and get food downtown, if you can't walk to get a coffee and leave your hotel, and feel like, it's not going to be like it is in Chicago and other cities where you're afraid people aren't going to want to come here. And I've said that to so many of the leaders who talk to me and are like, sure, are you really afraid. Here's the truth. I will absolutely go down on a Sunday morning for a Bengals game.
Of course I'm going to go to a red Skin. But I go down and I get out. I truly don't go down and go out on a Friday or Saturday night. I literally went down two weeks ago. My son goes to you, I told you, goes to the University of Cincinnati. My older son and he It was parents' weekend and some of the parents wanted to get together in OTR. I'm not kidding you, And I said, I was scared to death to park and walk, you know,
one hundred feet to the bar. And I was, And I was even with Mike because I could just you know, you're you're kind of seeing the you know, people around that aren't going into the restaurants or the bars. They're just kind of wandering along the street. You feel like it's only it's not if, but when you're going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And
that's the reality. When you have five people shot in a matter of eight hours in the heart of our city and around our city, why would you want to take that chance? And here's the reality. Yes, the reality is most of these victims and the suspects are involved in criminal activity. But the truth is that sometimes when it's happening at Fountain Square in places with innocent people can take a stray bullet. We've seen it happen innocent kids who are playing in parks, and we have these
drive by shooting that happened all summer long. I mean, it is absolutely heartbreaking to me as somebody who loves this city and is so proud of the Queen City and I've said this before, Willie. Twenty three years ago when I came from Charlotte. I remember my police officer friends saying to me, why in the world would you want to live in Cincinnati. And we really created change here,
and unfortunately it feels like we're going backwards. We have to be tough, and I think every parent who loses a child, even if their child is in their twenties and involved in crime, they too want to see changed.
You know, one thing I've noticed, the convention Center is opening up. I think at the end of the year. I think December January. I might be wrong, but in the next few months, have you seen that the hotel come out of the ground. The answer is no, and the reason is Marriott is going to operate it. But the powers that be three c DC and others have to build it and it's not coming out of the
ground because they cannot get financing. Now can you imagine that hotel should be coming out of the ground now, so when the convention center is open, the conventionaires can go into the hotel and guess what, have a great time. But at this point, as of a week ago, I was told by a rather prominent Cincinnatian that they cannot get financing, and they can't get financing because the banks don't want to do it, and so they want power brokers in town to guarantee the loan in case the
events continue. By the way, the event on July twenty sixth happened right at the doorstep of the convention center.
Uh. And and it's it's it's there's a story there as.
To why is the hotel not coming out of the ground, And the answer is because they can't get financing. Why can't they get financing? Well, there's concern now if that happens and we have this great convention center and two of two big conventions have already canceled because the hotel is not available. That hotel is going to take what two years to build? And Uh, that's a problem.
Is that a problem? That is a huge problem.
And the problem there's a story find out why the convention center hotel is not being built. And right now it's a it's a dirt parking lot. And they wanted to start this thing a year ago when the convention center is being built. But the Chamber and others are trying to get financing. They can't get financing. Now that's a problem. So I don't know, Cherie. We've laid upon the table some necessary information is up to the powers that be to correct this thing and do something in
the city. But right now the mayor's gone from this is wrong to this is unacceptable. Now it's intolerable. We're gone from wrong unacceptable now intolerable. What's the next five syllables? Get the the sarcees out and find out what the hell's next.
Well, something has to be done, and you can't keep saying, okay, put more officers on the streets. Well again, I would argue that last night it appears as if you were officers right there. But when when people think the answer is pulling out a gun, I mean we see it time in and time out. That's the problem. If you're not afraid that if oh my god, I get caught shooting someone, I'm going to be locked up for.
Years, not not happy.
You're gonna take your chances. How it starts so young. We see teenagers, I mean twelve, thirteen, fourteen year old, and I always go back to what one since officer told me last year, He's like, sre your definition of a kid and My definition of the kids are very different, you know, getting trained.
Young, young and because they know the juvenile court system here will not lock them up. Surrey up against the clock, you know, and that works. But try to find out what happened to the hotel, this beautiful hotel next to the convention center. That is that is that is nothing, and we got to run SCHERI get my best to all the folks.
Calvert, now call her.
Find out all right, thank you, thank you, Sari Pillow, thank you. Up against the clock. But River City we got a major problem. Seven hundred WW