Cincinnati officials hope to get ahead of the annual spike in summer crime with a list of programming for kids and teens.
"All of this is a service of the Cincinnati community, which is healthier, safer and more vibrant when we come together to enjoy good weather and fun activities," said City Manager Sheryl Long.
Police data shows violent crime is trending down compared to last year and the three-year average; the number of year-to-date shooting incidents also is at the lowest level since 2010.
"I don't typically like to take a victory lap on our data until the year has concluded," said Police Chief Teresa Theetge, "but for today's purposes, it's really significant because it is extremely telling on all the efforts that the city and the community has done."
Theetge says she's grateful the conversation about violence reduction has shifted from "what are the police doing?" to "what are we all doing?"
The "Summer in Cincy" programming includes several city departments and community organizations. Iris Roley, consultant for the city, says the collaboration is important, but she has a challenge to the community at large: "These things will never, probably, ever go away, but our job right now as the adults is to continuously improve," Roley said. "Let's make this summer in Cincy the most safe, the most productive, the most inclusive, the most interactive summer for children that we know. It's not always on the government — it's on its people, too."
Summer in Cincy programming
Learn more on the city's website at .
Rec at Nite
This program started last summer as a pilot program and won a statewide award. It is back and expanding this year.
"Every Saturday night this summer, Lincoln and Hirsch recreation centers will be transformed into a vibrant hub for teens, complete with DJs, e-sports, swimming, food trucks, and art," said Recreation Commission Director Daniel Betts.
Last year the program alternated each week between Lincoln in the West End and Hirsch in Avondale; this year, Rec at Nite is scheduled in both locations every Saturday.
More than 3,000 teens participated in Rec at Nite last year. Betts says it's successful in part because teens helped design it.
Rec at Night is every Saturday from 3 p.m.-11 p.m., from June 7 to Aug. 9, at the Lincoln Recreation Center (1027 Linn St) and Hirsch Recreation Center (3630 Reading Rd).
Open skating
New for 2025 is open skate nights at Sawyer Point every Friday night.
Open skate is scheduled from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. at the outdoor skating rink next to the pickleball courts. The Cincinnati Parks Foundation will provide free skate rentals, and the Cincinnati Parks Department will schedule DJs, food trucks, and other activities.
"The City Manager mentioned we had a lot of concentration of teens down at Smale Riverfront Park — they go to The Banks, they hang out down there," said Parks Director Jason Barron. "It's a great place to go, but sometimes you need to kind of diffuse all that pent-up teen excitement, and so we're gonna be working to invite our teens to head down to Sawyer Point and go skating."
While Friday nights are aimed specifically at teens, the Parks Foundation is hosting open skates at Sawyer Point on as well.
Public pools
All 24 city pools will be open again this year. That happened in 2024 for the first time since before the pandemic, thanks to a chronic shortage of lifeguards.
Recreation Commission Director Betts says they have more than 130 lifeguards signed up for this year, but adds they are
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