WEBVTT - Cory Bowman: Finding solutions to the problems downtown 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:04.010 605, coming up at 606 at 55 KRC Detox Station. 0:00:04.030 --> 0:00:07.010 Ryan Thomas here. Glad to be here. Glad to see 0:00:07.030 --> 0:00:09.520 Joe Strzok, where he belongs, executive producer. And I'm glad 0:00:09.539 --> 0:00:11.380 to see Corey Bowman's on the phone this morning. Former 0:00:11.390 --> 0:00:13.760 mayoral candidate Corey Bowman, business owner in the city of 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.600 Cincinnati and pastor of a church in the city of Cincinnati. Corey, 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:18.160 great to have you back on the show. How have 0:00:18.180 --> 0:00:18.660 you been, man? 0:00:20.380 --> 0:00:21.900 Been great. How are you doing, sir? 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.619 I am fine, I can report. And so, state of 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:27.760 the city, what's your impression on how things are going 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.410 in downtown Cincinnati? I'm going to have to address... I'll 0:00:30.450 --> 0:00:32.809 get your reaction on this proposal from city council because 0:00:32.850 --> 0:00:35.599 apparently people are stealing guns from cars. And so the 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.780 city wants to impose an obligation on property, on parking 0:00:38.820 --> 0:00:42.960 lots and garage owners to hire a 24-7 security guard 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.970 or install cameras. I'm just laughing out loud over this. 0:00:47.030 --> 0:00:50.670 But generally speaking, before we get into that specific issue, 0:00:51.350 --> 0:00:53.410 how are things going in your particular neighborhood? I know 0:00:53.430 --> 0:00:56.240 you've had a lot of problems with crime. Um, I 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:58.780 flock cameras have become an issue. So we're moving toward 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.720 requiring cameras from private businesses and, and eliminating the public 0:01:02.860 --> 0:01:06.520 owned for controlled flock cameras. So a lot to unpackage here, Corey, 0:01:06.540 --> 0:01:08.560 but you're living in the middle of it all. How 0:01:08.620 --> 0:01:09.780 are things in your neighborhood? 0:01:11.950 --> 0:01:16.530 Yeah, well, we're, um, as a pastor of the river church, Cincinnati, 0:01:16.550 --> 0:01:19.130 and as co-owner of King's arms coffee shop, we're in 0:01:19.170 --> 0:01:21.650 the West end for anybody that doesn't know we're right 0:01:21.950 --> 0:01:25.880 by the soccer stadium. Um, And, you know, we're kind 0:01:25.900 --> 0:01:29.020 of in between where the Cincinnati Children's Museum is and 0:01:29.060 --> 0:01:33.530 Central Parkway. So in our area, we've got about 67,000 residents. 0:01:33.569 --> 0:01:36.330 A lot of the issues that you see in the city, 0:01:36.410 --> 0:01:38.450 a lot of them are highlighted in the area that 0:01:38.470 --> 0:01:41.170 we're in. We experienced the crime. We experienced a lot 0:01:41.190 --> 0:01:44.450 of failed policies of the city. That's actually what led 0:01:44.510 --> 0:01:47.130 us to run for mayor of Cincinnati to begin with. 0:01:48.070 --> 0:01:51.070 I would say that. In some aspects, you kind of 0:01:51.090 --> 0:01:53.809 feel like it's Groundhog Day. We kind of experience the 0:01:53.850 --> 0:01:57.150 same stuff over and over every year about the same 0:01:57.210 --> 0:01:59.930 time when it comes to the shootings. And then at 0:01:59.970 --> 0:02:03.350 the same time, you still feel like it's Groundhog Day 0:02:03.370 --> 0:02:07.270 when it comes to the solutions. You just mentioned it 0:02:07.310 --> 0:02:10.070 right there when it came to the parking garage. One 0:02:10.090 --> 0:02:12.290 of my good friends actually is the owner of a 0:02:12.310 --> 0:02:15.110 parking garage, and we found out about this actually at 0:02:15.150 --> 0:02:20.049 the beginning of summer. he saw the gentleman that was 0:02:20.210 --> 0:02:24.690 maybe the proposed 24 hour surveillance guy that was walking around. 0:02:24.889 --> 0:02:27.210 And the guy just knew right off the bat that 0:02:27.230 --> 0:02:30.260 they were going to try to demonize the parking lot owners. 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.320 One thing I will say is that in the city 0:02:33.340 --> 0:02:36.200 of Cincinnati, a lot of times they put the blame 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.420 on the people that are the, least likely to be 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.750 able to defend themselves. And a lot of times that 0:02:42.810 --> 0:02:45.310 has to do with the business owners. So we're seeing 0:02:45.350 --> 0:02:48.370 that with local business owners when it comes to the 0:02:48.430 --> 0:02:52.510 shootings or violence that's happening, instead of putting the blame 0:02:52.610 --> 0:02:55.510 or putting the solution on the city, they put on 0:02:55.530 --> 0:02:57.690 the business owners and say, hey, we're going to find you, 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.040 we're going to dock you if anything happens around your area. Well, 0:03:01.060 --> 0:03:04.079 that's happening in the parking garages as well. They're trying 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.200 to blame these guns for growing feet and then just 0:03:07.300 --> 0:03:11.070 walking out of the car as and causing violence in 0:03:11.110 --> 0:03:13.940 our city, but we all know that's the individual. It's 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.420 the criminals on the streets that are causing the crimes, 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:18.380 and that's what we need to focus on when it 0:03:18.419 --> 0:03:21.060 comes to law enforcement and the public safety budget. 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:24.560 Perhaps, I don't know, treating crime as it should be 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.380 treated and dealing with it harshly in the court system. 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:33.490 If people are advised in advance by way of prior prosecutions, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.200 and strict law enforcement, then they might be less inclined 0:03:37.220 --> 0:03:39.520 to rip people off and break into cars and steal guns. 0:03:39.580 --> 0:03:41.560 But sadly, we don't have a justice system that cares 0:03:41.620 --> 0:03:44.420 a whit about prosecuting criminals. We let them out. The 0:03:44.460 --> 0:03:48.170 revolving door of the justice system. So I would argue 0:03:48.230 --> 0:03:51.990 that advocating for harsher criminal penalties would do a whole 0:03:52.030 --> 0:03:53.910 lot more to stop this crime on the streets of 0:03:53.930 --> 0:03:57.830 Cincinnati than while requiring private garage owners to install cameras 0:03:57.870 --> 0:03:58.850 or hire personnel. 0:04:00.860 --> 0:04:03.760 Yeah, well, this is what we saw last year, and 0:04:03.810 --> 0:04:06.210 these are issues that we tried to bring out during 0:04:06.230 --> 0:04:10.990 the mayoral election, and it's the same thing. The election 0:04:11.010 --> 0:04:13.230 that we're about to see in November, I keep telling 0:04:13.250 --> 0:04:16.430 people because obviously there's the state and the federal elections, 0:04:16.510 --> 0:04:19.890 but in Cincinnati, the most important elections that we have 0:04:19.940 --> 0:04:23.380 are the judicial candidates that are on the ballot. We've 0:04:23.420 --> 0:04:29.060 got great judges like Chris McDowell. Betsy Sunderman, Leah Dinkellocher. 0:04:29.180 --> 0:04:31.559 But then also you have one of the biggest issues 0:04:31.620 --> 0:04:34.820 in our city is youth violence. Yes. And we have 0:04:34.860 --> 0:04:38.700 a juvenile court judge that's on the ballot, and it's 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:43.190 Susan Lukin. And I would encourage everybody that's listening, you've 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.460 got to go out and vote this November or even 0:04:45.500 --> 0:04:47.990 in the early voting to see a change in the 0:04:48.029 --> 0:04:51.049 juvenile system. Because I've talked to the judges from behind 0:04:51.070 --> 0:04:54.650 the scenes, and Chris McDowell was one of them. He 0:04:54.710 --> 0:04:59.880 said that Whenever the people go through the actual judicial 0:04:59.940 --> 0:05:03.610 system for the first time as an 18-year-old, and let's 0:05:03.650 --> 0:05:05.750 say they've gone through the system when they were in 0:05:05.790 --> 0:05:09.330 their teens, they are shocked whenever they get any type 0:05:09.430 --> 0:05:12.510 of conviction when they're 18 because that's not what they 0:05:12.570 --> 0:05:15.500 experienced when they were in the youth. What we're seeing 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.920 is that there's a difference between restorative justice and preventative justice. 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.520 And that's the two sides of the coin when it 0:05:22.580 --> 0:05:26.140 comes to conservative judges that are going to hold criminals 0:05:26.180 --> 0:05:29.080 accountable versus ones that are going to just try to 0:05:29.500 --> 0:05:32.340 be a babysitter to the city, try to be the 0:05:32.380 --> 0:05:34.520 mom and dad to the city and take the place 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:36.729 of what really the family should be doing in the 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:37.390 court system. 0:05:37.570 --> 0:05:39.230 Well, that's kind of an odd way of looking at it. 0:05:39.230 --> 0:05:41.529 If they're going to be the family for the young 0:05:41.550 --> 0:05:43.950 people committing acts of violence, they should be harsh on 0:05:43.990 --> 0:05:46.560 them because, you know, that's what moms and dads typically do. 0:05:46.570 --> 0:05:49.050 You know, if you do anything wrong in my household 0:05:49.089 --> 0:05:51.890 growing up, you're likely going to be punished in some way, 0:05:51.930 --> 0:05:54.490 maybe a spanking, but discipline was definitely the order of 0:05:54.510 --> 0:05:56.450 the day. And that was to prevent you from doing 0:05:56.529 --> 0:06:00.279 something stupid again. So treating them soft on crime is 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.380 the exact opposite of what these young people need. They 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:04.840 apparently are lacking discipline at home. They don't have any 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:06.880 ethics or morals are willing to steal from people or 0:06:06.900 --> 0:06:09.520 commit acts of violence. Somebody has got to be a 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:11.620 strong parent in the room. And if it's the justice system, 0:06:11.660 --> 0:06:12.940 they haven't gotten the memo. 0:06:14.610 --> 0:06:17.020 Yeah. Well, I'll say this too. Um, I'm not talking 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.320 from the outside in the suburbs. We are actively involved 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:22.780 in the city. And one thing, if you talk to 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:24.860 anybody in the community, if you talk to the single 0:06:24.900 --> 0:06:27.620 moms or the families that live in these downtown areas, 0:06:28.150 --> 0:06:30.909 they want justice the same. They want the criminals on 0:06:30.950 --> 0:06:34.550 the street. You know, there's this mentality, especially on the 0:06:34.630 --> 0:06:37.890 outskirts of the city or between a lot of other people, 0:06:37.970 --> 0:06:41.820 that the entire community is at fault or the entire 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.520 community is that way. But let's be real. The crime 0:06:45.560 --> 0:06:49.040 that's happening is being done by a very small percentage 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.320 of people. And in a city the size of Cincinnati, 0:06:52.339 --> 0:06:56.420 you're talking about 300 to 500 people. The majority of 0:06:56.500 --> 0:06:59.420 crime that's being done is being done by repeat offenders 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.260 that have gone through the system, some of them 18, 0:07:03.260 --> 0:07:06.750 19 times when it comes to arrests and convictions and 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:10.130 warrants or whatever that might be, some of them. are 0:07:10.230 --> 0:07:12.760 there's active warrants on them that they aren't being pursued. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.200 Some of them are breaking parole. But these are done 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.560 by a very small percentage of people. And it's wreaking 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.840 havoc on the entire city. And the people in the community, 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.490 those single moms I talk to on a daily basis, 0:07:24.570 --> 0:07:27.020 the people that are living in the inner city, They 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.100 want justice. They want crime taken care of. They're the 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.390 ones that say, no, bring the cops. We want a 0:07:32.410 --> 0:07:35.470 relationship with the cops. We want them to protect and 0:07:35.530 --> 0:07:37.790 serve our city, but we want these criminals off the 0:07:37.850 --> 0:07:40.910 street because we're tired of our children not feeling safe 0:07:40.990 --> 0:07:42.230 on the street just the same. 0:07:43.470 --> 0:07:46.410 Well, I guess my question is, do you sense that 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.820 that perception, we need more police, it makes perfect sense 0:07:49.860 --> 0:07:52.180 to me. If you're in a crime-ridden neighborhood, you would 0:07:52.220 --> 0:07:55.120 want more police officers. That's your place. That's where you live. 0:07:55.750 --> 0:07:57.560 Do you get a sense that it's a majority of 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.780 people that feel that way and somehow this weird, woke, 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.360 corrupt minority has taken over the law enforcement attitudes and 0:08:04.380 --> 0:08:06.620 believes this soft on crime approach is what's good for 0:08:06.660 --> 0:08:07.500 everybody in downtown? 0:08:09.380 --> 0:08:12.460 Well, I think that mentality definitely has been more prevalent. 0:08:13.380 --> 0:08:16.430 But when we ask for more police, one thing I'm 0:08:16.470 --> 0:08:18.910 seeing on social media is that people, whenever you talk 0:08:18.950 --> 0:08:21.930 about law enforcement and more police, a lot of people 0:08:21.970 --> 0:08:24.530 will claim that, oh, you're just wanting a military state. 0:08:24.890 --> 0:08:28.090 You're just wanting the police to run the street. Let's 0:08:28.170 --> 0:08:31.810 look at the current state of the police department. Right now, 0:08:31.830 --> 0:08:35.480 what we have is complement levels, which is the debt. 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:40.680 So every police force, you have a suggested number. of 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.640 police officers that is needed bare minimum to take care 0:08:44.660 --> 0:08:48.820 of the city's crime. Right now, we're 20% below that 0:08:48.900 --> 0:08:51.900 line right now. And the way that I've been talking 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.420 with some police officers, when they see all the drama 0:08:54.570 --> 0:08:57.130 that's happening behind the scenes, a lot of them are 0:08:57.170 --> 0:09:00.670 entering into retirement over the next few years. And there's 0:09:00.710 --> 0:09:02.630 no guarantee that they're going to stay on the force 0:09:02.670 --> 0:09:06.050 like many police officers have done in the past. So 0:09:06.090 --> 0:09:10.390 you're talking about potentially 20 to 30 percent understaffed police 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.420 force in a major city in America. So we're not 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.559 necessarily asking for an overabundance of police force. We're just 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:20.100 asking for at least the compliment levels to be up. 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.480 We're just asking for at least the number of employees 0:09:23.540 --> 0:09:26.760 that's recommended to take care of our city to be 0:09:26.860 --> 0:09:29.809 up there. And that's not what's happening. There's many reasons 0:09:29.890 --> 0:09:32.900 why those compliment levels aren't up. whether it be because 0:09:32.980 --> 0:09:36.240 of lack of lateral hiring initiatives, whether it be lack 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.600 of morale, people just aren't applying like they should, people 0:09:40.140 --> 0:09:43.000 entering into retirement. But that's what we're asking for is 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.950 a culture shift to happen in the police department to 0:09:46.970 --> 0:09:49.990 where people are wanting to work for the Cincinnati Police 0:09:50.030 --> 0:09:52.949 Department and that we bring those compliment levels up to 0:09:52.970 --> 0:09:56.069 at least to where we're not 20 to 30 percent understaffed. 0:09:56.510 --> 0:09:58.580 Well, we'll pause on that note. We'll bring cory bowman 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.000 back up more to talk to him about but i 0:10:00.740 --> 0:10:03.219 i'm thinking maybe perhaps one of the reasons we're having 0:10:03.300 --> 0:10:06.099 such a difficult time luring police officers into the city 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.090 of cincinnati lateral or new recruits um we may have 0:10:09.110 --> 0:10:11.050 a leadership problem if you don't have support for the 0:10:11.070 --> 0:10:13.929 police department coming from leadership not a good sign to 0:10:13.970 --> 0:10:15.750 those who might want to protect and serve within the 0:10:15.790 --> 0:10:18.450 city limits more with cory bowman at sickly talk station 0:10:18.450 --> 0:10:23.719 620 here, 55KRCD Talk Station, Brian Thomas with Corey Bowman, 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.070 former mayoral candidate, business owner, King's Arms Coffee. Get yourself 0:10:27.110 --> 0:10:28.880 down there and get yourself a real good cup of 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:32.429 joe and visit the east side of Cincinnati, King's Arms 0:10:32.450 --> 0:10:36.010 Coffee right there at Baymiller and York Street. So close 0:10:36.030 --> 0:10:38.050 to TQL Stadium. You think that neighborhood would be really 0:10:38.130 --> 0:10:40.089 solid and a very safe place to live? Corey, I 0:10:40.110 --> 0:10:43.530 guess maybe it's not the case, but does have massive potential. 0:10:43.590 --> 0:10:45.770 Is that why you chose to establish your business and 0:10:45.809 --> 0:10:46.870 church there on that side of town? 0:10:49.179 --> 0:10:51.680 Yeah, I mean, we love every part of Cincinnati, but 0:10:51.700 --> 0:10:54.960 there's something extremely special about the West End. I really 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.240 believe that it has, I mean, if you come to 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.179 the neighborhood, you see the historic buildings, the character behind it, 0:11:01.300 --> 0:11:04.209 and even the community. The community is just such an 0:11:04.270 --> 0:11:08.449 incredible tight-knit community that really wants to see change, that 0:11:08.490 --> 0:11:12.070 really wants to see improvement. And you mentioned about the 0:11:12.130 --> 0:11:15.750 safety of the neighborhood. I think it's actually valid to 0:11:15.830 --> 0:11:19.719 mention that ever since we started our coffee shop, we 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.140 haven't been broken into one time in almost four years. 0:11:23.770 --> 0:11:28.349 And you see many businesses downtown that experience issues where 0:11:28.390 --> 0:11:30.870 windows are broken or broken into at least one time. 0:11:31.190 --> 0:11:33.380 We haven't experienced that one time. And I tell people, 0:11:33.660 --> 0:11:37.780 It's not necessarily because we've got some high-tech security system 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:42.570 with sharks with lasers on their head outside. It's because 0:11:42.620 --> 0:11:45.150 the community actually wants us to be there and thrive. 0:11:45.490 --> 0:11:48.589 And I say that if you start businesses in these areas, 0:11:48.670 --> 0:11:51.650 if you want to see change, you've got to see development. 0:11:51.690 --> 0:11:54.850 You've got to see proper things take place. And also, 0:11:55.450 --> 0:11:59.130 we see the police regularly patrol our area just because 0:11:59.170 --> 0:12:01.540 they want to keep the area with the coffee shop safe. 0:12:02.220 --> 0:12:05.400 Well, and talk about it. I remember back in the 0:12:05.620 --> 0:12:07.860 80s when I used to work at the Hamilton County Courthouse, 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.270 Dayton Street just fascinated me because those old millionaire row 0:12:12.330 --> 0:12:16.210 homes are still intact. They are still as gorgeous as hell. And, 0:12:16.550 --> 0:12:20.270 you know, comparatively affordable, obviously, because the neighborhood is a 0:12:20.309 --> 0:12:23.910 little bit more dicey from a crime perspective. But holy cow. 0:12:23.950 --> 0:12:26.319 I mean, the potential still exists for that. The investment 0:12:26.340 --> 0:12:28.260 opportunity is still there. I mean, are there still a 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.939 whole lot of those homes available for purchase? Because I 0:12:31.980 --> 0:12:34.020 don't know why, you know, you get Over the Rhine 0:12:34.059 --> 0:12:36.520 being developed, and that was all the emphasis there after 0:12:36.590 --> 0:12:39.729 Washington Park got rehabbed. And I get it, potential and 0:12:39.790 --> 0:12:42.310 opportunity there as well, but sort of a missed opportunity 0:12:42.350 --> 0:12:44.690 like a few blocks away in your neighborhood. 0:12:46.470 --> 0:12:50.579 Yeah, it's literally Billionaire's Road, Dayton Street is one block away, 0:12:50.740 --> 0:12:53.380 and we get customers that live on Dayton Street every 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.559 day that come into our shop for their morning cup 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.859 of coffee. And there's a lot of development, a lot 0:12:58.900 --> 0:13:01.560 of rehab that's taking place on a couple of homes 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.140 on the street. But then there's a lot of just 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:09.240 timeless homes there that have had people living there for decades. 0:13:09.260 --> 0:13:12.990 You know, there's actually many movies that have been filmed 0:13:13.190 --> 0:13:16.329 on Dayton Street and in the area as well. So 0:13:16.390 --> 0:13:19.490 it is a very amazing community to be a part of. 0:13:19.970 --> 0:13:21.809 But I will say this, that when I speak to 0:13:21.870 --> 0:13:25.180 those residents, people on both sides of the aisle politically say, 0:13:25.650 --> 0:13:28.890 They want change because they see the potential. Every new 0:13:28.950 --> 0:13:31.250 person that we get in the coffee shop, it's so funny, 0:13:32.190 --> 0:13:34.870 we get visitors every week that come in because they're 0:13:34.890 --> 0:13:37.460 either visiting the Children's Museum or going to a game. 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.100 And they Google us and they find us and they say, 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.260 what's this neighborhood like? Is it up and coming? And 0:13:43.340 --> 0:13:45.420 I just say, you know, it's a running joke. It's 0:13:45.460 --> 0:13:47.780 been up and coming for the last 50 years. Yeah. 0:13:49.210 --> 0:13:52.250 Just because you see development, but it operates a little 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.040 bit slower than a lot of people would like. But 0:13:55.300 --> 0:13:56.760 a lot of that has to do with either the 0:13:56.820 --> 0:14:01.100 policies that we're encountering or just the perception of how 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:02.260 people view the neighborhood. 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:05.720 Well, do you feel left out or ignored? Again, I'll 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.790 contrast your neighborhood and all of the potential it obviously 0:14:09.850 --> 0:14:14.250 has versus over the Rhine and the Central Business District downtown, 0:14:14.270 --> 0:14:16.450 which seems to get the lion's share of the allocation 0:14:16.470 --> 0:14:18.870 of the limited police force we have. Do I have 0:14:18.910 --> 0:14:20.130 a proper understanding of that? 0:14:21.950 --> 0:14:23.990 Well, yeah, a lot of it has to do with stakeholders. 0:14:24.090 --> 0:14:26.850 You know, when you hear the mayor get up and 0:14:26.930 --> 0:14:29.170 speak about, you know, whether it be if there's a 0:14:29.210 --> 0:14:31.690 shooting that happened in Fountain Square or if there is 0:14:31.710 --> 0:14:35.170 a shooting that would happen in OTR, the press conference 0:14:35.230 --> 0:14:37.610 is always that we are there for our stakeholders. We 0:14:37.650 --> 0:14:40.490 all need to come together and find solutions for that. 0:14:40.750 --> 0:14:42.910 What he's talking about is that in those areas, you've 0:14:42.930 --> 0:14:46.250 had a concentrated conversation. investment. You've had a lot of 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.180 people get together and get on board to be able 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.860 to invest in the community. And also that includes government subsidies, grants, 0:14:53.940 --> 0:14:56.430 tax abatements, all sorts of stuff. It's like there's this 0:14:56.970 --> 0:15:00.670 collective effort to be able to revitalize the neighborhood. Now 0:15:00.690 --> 0:15:03.600 in the West End, the main thing that we get 0:15:04.010 --> 0:15:07.700 a collective effort on is putting more affordable housing in 0:15:07.740 --> 0:15:12.609 the West. Even today, you're seeing cranes that are on 0:15:12.910 --> 0:15:16.530 the West and they're building more government subsidized housing. Now, 0:15:16.570 --> 0:15:19.010 here's the thing. When it comes to affordable housing, government 0:15:19.050 --> 0:15:22.590 subsidized housing, I'm kind of an outlier, I feel like, 0:15:22.630 --> 0:15:24.660 in my own party because I believe that some of 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.180 these benefits and these subsidies need to exist because I 0:15:28.260 --> 0:15:32.280 see people that are hurting, that are in need. But 0:15:32.380 --> 0:15:34.400 it needs to be a hand up, not a hand out. 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:39.440 And in our current neighborhood, you're looking at roughly over 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:44.140 60 percent, at least, if not more, of government subsidized housing. 0:15:44.350 --> 0:15:48.750 What that is, is that that's concentrated poverty. Concentrated poverty 0:15:48.830 --> 0:15:51.830 will always lead to concentrated crime, no matter how you 0:15:51.870 --> 0:15:54.910 see it. And who really suffers is the families and 0:15:54.950 --> 0:15:57.290 communities that are just trying to get a leg up 0:15:57.350 --> 0:16:00.729 by utilizing this housing for a temporary time. At least 0:16:00.750 --> 0:16:01.650 you would hope so. 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.840 We'll bring Corey Bowman back, talk a little bit more. And, again, 0:16:04.860 --> 0:16:07.180 I'm going to have to ask you about KRC, the 0:16:07.220 --> 0:16:14.140 talk station. It is 631, 55 KRC, the talk station. 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.210 Brian Thomas talking with Corey Bowman, former mayoral candidate, but 0:16:17.690 --> 0:16:21.390 established businessman and resident. I think I inadvertently said East 0:16:21.470 --> 0:16:23.590 End a moment ago, and it's West End because we 0:16:23.610 --> 0:16:25.989 talked about his neighborhood, his coffee shop in King's Arms. 0:16:26.030 --> 0:16:27.990 If you're over in the neighborhood close to TQL Stadium, 0:16:28.030 --> 0:16:30.210 swing on in. Say hi to Corey and the crew. 0:16:30.230 --> 0:16:34.770 Is it National Coffee Day? Joe Strecker, it's National Coffee Day. Corey, 0:16:34.790 --> 0:16:35.430 did you know that? 0:16:37.330 --> 0:16:39.330 Well, I should know it at least. I know. I'm 0:16:39.350 --> 0:16:41.910 a coffee shop owner, but for us, every day is 0:16:41.950 --> 0:16:43.010 National Coffee Day. 0:16:43.130 --> 0:16:45.530 All right. Well, since we're talking about law enforcement, you 0:16:45.550 --> 0:16:47.890 mentioned the, we know, I think all my listening audience 0:16:47.930 --> 0:16:52.720 knows there's a significant reduction in the contingent of police officers. 0:16:52.740 --> 0:16:55.320 You mentioned we're 20% below what we need statistically. And 0:16:55.340 --> 0:16:57.930 I think that's consistent with the numbers I've heard from, uh, 0:16:58.620 --> 0:17:01.320 Ken Coburn, FOP president. We need more officers, but more 0:17:01.380 --> 0:17:04.040 and more are retiring. They're taking early retirement, which is 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:06.420 a red flag. They are leaving to go to other 0:17:06.540 --> 0:17:09.870 jurisdictions and maybe become an officer in Warren County, where 0:17:09.910 --> 0:17:11.750 I think things are a little bit better from a 0:17:12.390 --> 0:17:15.909 police department respect standpoint. But what do you say, and 0:17:15.930 --> 0:17:18.689 do you believe that the administration, Burr of All, and 0:17:18.750 --> 0:17:21.090 City Manager Long, and the people they hang out with, 0:17:21.130 --> 0:17:23.720 like Iris Rowley, who they pay hundreds of thousands of 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.929 dollars for, who is an absolute anti-police advocate. She's one 0:17:27.950 --> 0:17:31.880 of the queens of the defund police movement downtown. The 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.220 optics are really bad if you're trying to increase the 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:37.660 number of officers. Now, the city is trying to attract officers, 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:38.659 isn't it, Corey? 0:17:41.380 --> 0:17:44.830 To their ability, I believe they are. Obviously, the police department, 0:17:44.869 --> 0:17:49.210 they want to fill those compliment levels, but the perception 0:17:49.250 --> 0:17:52.889 of the department internally and on the outside, I believe 0:17:52.990 --> 0:17:54.710 is hindering a lot of it. You know, when we 0:17:54.750 --> 0:17:58.229 do lateral hires, I think the last lateral hire class 0:17:58.310 --> 0:18:02.810 was either non-existent or you had a handful. You're seeing 0:18:03.210 --> 0:18:06.250 people come through the academy, but it is a struggle 0:18:06.330 --> 0:18:09.470 to try to recruit and to get people to be 0:18:09.530 --> 0:18:12.210 as excited as they once were. You know, I keep 0:18:12.250 --> 0:18:15.750 getting told by officers and people that used to be 0:18:15.790 --> 0:18:18.410 a part of the department that there was a time 0:18:18.609 --> 0:18:22.489 where if you had recruitment for the CPD, that they 0:18:22.530 --> 0:18:26.690 would be filling the convention center with applicants. And nowadays, 0:18:26.730 --> 0:18:29.260 that's not the case. It's almost like you have to 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:34.500 compel people to try to come to the department. And 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:36.659 a lot of that boils down to the perception of 0:18:36.700 --> 0:18:40.480 the leadership, the morale, and how things are going to 0:18:40.500 --> 0:18:42.800 be perceived once you get there. The majority of the 0:18:42.859 --> 0:18:45.100 officers that I speak to, I don't speak to them 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.600 about red or blue issues. What they say is that 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:53.830 the politics have taken over where everything in their job 0:18:53.910 --> 0:18:57.879 is involving all these politics and kind of walking on 0:18:57.910 --> 0:19:00.390 eggshells when it comes to certain things instead of just 0:19:00.430 --> 0:19:02.300 doing what they were hired to do, which is to 0:19:02.340 --> 0:19:06.340 protect and serve. They have their training. They have their accountability. 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:08.419 They need to be able to go out and do 0:19:08.460 --> 0:19:11.300 their job, but they're constantly having to worry about what 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.300 does the leadership look like? What does the directive look 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:18.370 like as far as low-level crime prevention and and patrolling. 0:19:18.590 --> 0:19:22.430 And those are mental gymnastics that these officers should not 0:19:22.950 --> 0:19:25.390 be having to go through if they're putting their lives 0:19:25.470 --> 0:19:26.470 on the line every day. 0:19:26.990 --> 0:19:29.210 Well, and then pivoting back over again, I have to 0:19:29.230 --> 0:19:31.850 be critical of the judicial system, meaning the Democrats, the 0:19:31.890 --> 0:19:36.850 council members, the mayor, all obviously advocating for these woke judges, 0:19:36.910 --> 0:19:40.230 including the juvenile court judge Bloom, who is very lenient 0:19:40.330 --> 0:19:44.170 on crime. The officers, I hear time and time again, 0:19:44.710 --> 0:19:47.460 are frustrated about the revolving door. What's the point of 0:19:47.500 --> 0:19:49.850 picking somebody up if they're just going to be let go? 0:19:50.050 --> 0:19:51.330 It's a pointless exercise. 0:19:52.250 --> 0:19:54.950 I hear the same thing from the officers. They'll say 0:19:54.990 --> 0:19:58.820 that they'll go to book somebody and then in the 0:19:58.930 --> 0:20:01.560 middle of doing their paperwork, they'll get the notification that 0:20:01.580 --> 0:20:04.140 the person's already been released right back on the street. 0:20:04.940 --> 0:20:07.160 And for a lot of them, they just don't see 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:09.830 the point of it. They just know the system. They 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:11.810 know what it'll go through. And that's why I keep 0:20:11.850 --> 0:20:15.530 saying that in November, if you really believe in Cincinnati, 0:20:15.570 --> 0:20:17.790 if you want to get involved in local politics, you know, 0:20:18.170 --> 0:20:21.290 support these judges that are on the ballot, like Susan 0:20:21.330 --> 0:20:26.930 Lucan and Chris McDowell, because this is an important, this 0:20:27.010 --> 0:20:29.320 not only is an important election, but it's an important 0:20:29.340 --> 0:20:32.619 time in our city to where I was actually speaking 0:20:32.660 --> 0:20:35.910 with the Claremont Young Republicans last night at their headquarters 0:20:35.950 --> 0:20:38.770 in Batavia. And I said that the big thing you've 0:20:38.790 --> 0:20:41.209 got to do is realize we can't always just be 0:20:41.250 --> 0:20:45.370 on the defensive and watch people leave cities like Cincinnati. 0:20:45.750 --> 0:20:47.609 We've got to be on the offensive. We've got to 0:20:47.650 --> 0:20:49.810