RECORD CAUSES CITY TO REACT

Some Warn Trends Behind the Increase Are Spreading

With 86 homicides in 2006, the year was Cincinnati's deadliest since
police began keeping consistent records in 1950.

The record number of homicides follows the recent blueprint for
violent deaths - drugs, weapons and broken families.

"Ninety percent of all homicides are drug-related," said Hamilton
County Coroner O'dell Owens. "When you peel the onion back, even
self-defense violence is because of drugs."

Drugs, guns and bloodshed have long plagued large cities like
Cincinnati, Owens said, but whatever happens in the inner city
eventually seeps into the suburbs.

More urgent, Owens added, is how violence has claimed the city's women
- - typically the less violent gender - and trickled its way down to the
younger generation.

In the last three years, the number of female homicide victims has
increased from 9 to 13, and the number of juveniles killed by violence
increased from 4 to 13.

"The average age is certainly trimming down," Owens said. "We're also
seeing more females involved. They're not just standing by anymore.
They want to get involved and make the money."

That economic survival attitude is a key reason why many people turn
to violence, Abdul Bilal said.

Bilal is the founder of Gat Ya Back, a community-based organization
that provides counseling and trauma intervention. "Life without the
gun" is the group's motto.

"The victims are getting younger because they're in survival mode and
they're forced to abandon social skills and education to survive,"
Bilal said. "But I think we understand now that this is not a cultural
problem but a society problem. The community is ready for a change."

Change was certainly on investigators' minds when a rash of
self-defense killings was noted among the city's growing number of
homicides, said Cincinnati police Lt. Col. James Whalen.

Debate erupted when 14-year-old Quavale Finnell was shot trying to
steal a car in Kennedy Heights. The car's owner, Bennie Hall, 63,
spotted the teen driving off. When the car swerved toward him, Hall
fired several shots, killing Finnell.

Was Hall justified in shooting Finnell?

Prosecutors said he was and didn't charge Hall.

Compared to a single incident in 2005, self-defense killings jumped to
nine in 2006.

Bystander Deaths Rare

For the most part, though, Owens and others say the chance of random
people ending up as homicide statistics is slight.

Investigators admit some homicides included bystanders like Angela
Grayson, 48, aka "Grandma," shot to death April 25 while standing at
an Avondale bus stop.

Cases like Grayson's are rare, investigators say.

Instead, those being killed include the young Kentucky resident or the
suburban mom, both shot to death while trying to score drugs in
Over-the-Rhine.

Still, the homicides spark outrage whether they are Trustin Blue, 3,
who police say was raped and killed by his mother's boyfriend, or
Philip Bates, 55, the husband of Cincinnati school board member
Melanie Bates, who was shot to death outside his home in what police
say was a robbery gone sour.

Cincinnati's deadliest month of the year was March, when 12 people
died. That was followed closely by September, when 11 people were
listed as homicides.

In the mix of bloodshed was the long-running feud between Kabaka Oba
and Howard Beatty, which ended April 15 with a shattered car window
and Oba's lifeless body lying across from City Hall. Beatty is now
serving 13 years in prison for killing the longtime
rabble-rouser.

City homicides also made national headlines, particularly when a
rising rap star's entourage engaged in a running gunbattle down
Interstate 75.

In May, rapper T.I. - born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. - and his
entourage were in a van in the I-75 shootout after a performance at
Bogarts. His childhood friend, Philant Johnson, 26, was shot to death
when their van was chased by another van and shots were exchanged. No
one has been charged in that death.

City, County Respond

In April, two people died during drug buys in Over-the-Rhine.

Lana D. Brown, 31, of Sharonville, was shot in the chest April 3 in
her car at the corner of 14th and Vine streets. She died at University
Hospital. An autopsy found marijuana and cocaine in her system.

Two days later, Matthew Cox, 20, of Florence, died on Race Street
while a female passenger in his car bought drugs. He was shot in the
head. An autopsy found cocaine and opiates in his system.

Hamilton County commissioners joined the effort to thwart crime when
they gave the sheriff $1.8 million to post 19 deputies in
Over-the-Rhine.

The extra manpower helped city police and 50 newly added task-force
officers move drug dealers from the area and board up crack houses.

While the effort reduced Over-the-Rhine homicides, deaths elsewhere in
the city stained Cincinnati's reputation as surely as the blood from
the rising violence stained city sidewalks.

Tough Nut to Crack

Fatal crime is perhaps the toughest crime to crack.

"How in the world do you predict when someone's going to kill?" Whalen
asked. "The whole concept of reducing homicides is an approach
different than any other crime."

Whalen said Cincinnati police are adding crime analysts to break down
homicides into categories.

Analysts will pore over the data from the past five years to try to
determine the trends and reasons behind the violence.

"I think it's a copout to say, 'Gee, we can't predict homicides, so we
can't do anything about it,' " Whalen said. "We're not just going to
look at how Joe killed Fred, but is it a domestic violence?
Gang-related? You go after the root because you can't get the tip of
it."

Even with new approaches to solving crime, investigators say they
still need people to help.

Just because average citizens usually are not targets, Owens said,
doesn't mean they should not get involved.

The coroner sparked considerable attention in July when he walked the
streets after a homicide yelling at residents and urging them to come
forward and help police.

"You got 200 people here and no one admitted they knew anything about
it," he said. "I overheard a relative make a comment about not talking
about it on TV. I said, 'No, we do need to talk about it.' "

People have options that will protect them.

Programs like Crime Stoppers have been around since the 1970s and
allow callers to remain anonymous. Those who offer tips that lead to
an arrest can collect a cash reward.

Of the 86 homicide investigations this year, 49 have been
solved.

Unless people step up to help police and lawmakers turn youths around
and clean up drug traffic, Owens said, he sees the crime wave
streaming into areas that many presume are safe.

"Drugs, guns, dropouts - whatever happens in the inner city will make
it into the suburbs," Owens said. "People need to get involved and we
need to create a better sense of family. No one is immune to homicide."