Cranley Ad Illustrates Motivation for Fighting to Make Cincinnati Safer

I know how important fighting crime is to the success of Cincinnati. That is why I have worked for the last seven years to add officers to the streets and find innovative approaches to combat crime.

In 2001, as Chair of Law and Public Safety Committee, I successfully led the efforts to get the city to commit to adding seventy-five new police officers to the force.

As Finance Chairman, I have fought to keep that commitment and get those officers on the streets by funding the positions in every budget since 2001.

In 2005, I created Operation Take Back Our Streets, which reduced crime in our most impacted neighborhoods by tripling funding for walking patrols and concentrated sweeps.

And in 2006, I led the efforts to get the city to commit to adding sixty new police officers to the force. Additionally, I ensured the city’s financial support of the CIRV initiative, the innovative crime fighting technique modeled on similar, successful programs in Boston and Baltimore.

While these accomplishments are well known, many people of Cincinnati do not know what motivates me to fight so hard to make Cincinnati safer. My campaign ad is designed to inform voters about this motivation.

The ad focuses on the Ohio Innocence Project and my successful work to exonerate Clarence Elkins and identify the actual killer of Judith Johnson. It demonstrates that fighting crime must stem from a desire to redress the wrongs suffered by crime victims and lead to a city that prevents crime.

As the co-founder and Executive Director of the Ohio Innocence Project at the UC College of Law’s Rosenthal Institute for Justice from 2003-2006, I worked to not only exonerate the wrongfully convicted, but to achieve justice for victims of violent crime and their families.

These experiences give me a nuanced view of the complexities of the criminal justice system. Having seen the injustice that occurred to Clarence Elkins, who was wrongfully imprisoned, I am committed to making Cincinnati’s criminal justice system fair.

Because of these experiences, I believe technology, DNA, and smart policing are critical to a fair and effective criminal justice system.