Cincinnati’s Crackdown and DC’s Military Occupation: Connecting the Dots
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
On July 24th, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order entitled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” This order demands that cities do more to “address” homelessness and serves as the basis for the current federalized crackdown that is occurring in Washington, D.C. Despite having no basis in truth, Trump has used a flimsy pretext of increasing violent crime (which, in actuality, is currently at a 30-year low in D.C.) to enable his racist and authoritarian overreach. Unsurprisingly, a majority of D.C. residents feel less safe now as a result of the crackdown.
A primary focus of this takeover has been the targeting of unhoused people and encampments. The executive order calls for numerous changes such as:
Making it easier for states and cities to remove outdoor encampments (which simply disperses the unhoused people elsewhere or makes them targets for arrest)
Prioritizing funding for housing programs that require sobriety and treatment, while defunding harm reduction programs
Prioritizing funding for cities that enforce homeless camping bans over “housing first, then treatment“ policies, and that crack down on “loitering,” drug use, etc.
Promoting involuntary civil commitment (forced psychiatric hospitalization) for those "who are a risk to themselves or others"
These changes will only exacerbate the homelessness situation in D.C. and beyond and lead to more death and immiseration among the most vulnerable sections of the populace. This gives Trump and his administration cover to round up and disappear anyone they deem vagrant or mentally ill.
The crackdown in D.C. is just the beginning, and there are signs that other cities will soon be targeted. While Cincinnati does not appear high on Trump’s list as of yet, there are parallels already occurring under Mayor Aftab Pureval’s policies.
A recent fight in downtown Cincinnati that went viral nationwide has served as our Mayor’s own flimsy pretext to crack down on the city. While Aftab acknowledges that “data showed the violent crime was declining in the city,” he’s still choosing to work with Governor DeWine to put more cops on our streets despite Cincinnati Police Department being one of the most costly, most violent, and least accountable police departments in the country.
On Sept. 10, Cincinnati City Council approved a $5.4 million proposal -- sponsored by Council Members Meeka Owens and Jeff Cramerding -- on "public safety" measures. The money, which is coming from the city's general fund, will be spent on the following:
CPD public visibility & overtime — $1.2 million (if this isn't used by the end of the year, it goes toward something else, according to the ordinance)
DOTE/CPD streetlighting and cameras — $1.2 million
Mobile safety camera trailers — $100,000
CPD West End camera expansion — $150,000
Fusus expansion — $100,000: Cameras CPD can monitor, some in real-time, some if needed during an investigation
License plate readers — $360,000: Money to replace the city's current license plate readers that officials say are more than 10 years old. The new readers would be able to connect to the Fusus network.
CGIC/PIVOT drones — $40,000
Drone expansion — $100,000
3CDC expanded ambassador program — $880,000: Money will add nine new ambassadors for a year. Ambassadors, supposedly, interface with the public, provide directions and offer other non-law enforcement assistance
Bond and sentencing project — $250,000: Money to study data tracking bond and sentencing practices in Cincinnati and other cities in partnership with Hamilton County
Curfew center — $195,000 for Lighthouse and $185,000 for Seven Hills: Since the start of the program, police say no young people have had to be sent to the curfew centers (likely because they would rather jail or shoot them).
Youth outreach workers — $200,000
Findlay Market safety improvements — $150,000: Cameras and lighting on Race Street near Findlay Market
CPD recruitment efforts — $90,000
PIVOT specialized training — $30,000: PIVOT stands for Place-Based Investigations of Violent Offender Territories.
The capitalist ruling class, Democrat and Republican alike, shows that instead of addressing material concerns that actually reduce crime (housing the homeless, funding education, meeting peoples' material needs, etc.), its answer will always be more funding to—and the militarization of—police forces. Cincinnati exemplifies this to a tee.
None of this will make our city safer. Cincinnati City Council knows it, CPD knows it, and the poor and working people of Cincinnati know it. The capitalist ruling class is preparing for what's to come as we descend deeper into fascism, resistance and class war. Their only solution is social control and criminalization of the rest of the population. There is no one else to use this equipment on but us.
Meanwhile, in the city’s biannual budget for fiscal years 2026-2027 (which took effect on July 1, 2025), a myriad of funding cuts were made to programs and nonprofits that provide aid to homeless and working class people in Cincinnati. Programs facing funding cuts included:
Produce Perks Midwest, which helps low-income families access healthy foods
Cincinnati Public School nursing jobs
There is a real possibility that Cincinnati will have National Guard troops in its streets in the near future.
A choice lays before us as Cincinnatians - will we meekly submit to the growing fascist police state subjugating us or will we rise up and resist? Do we accept the status quo and allow more cops on our streets and more state-sanctioned killings of our youth? Do we allow more of our neighbors to be forced out to live on the streets? Or will we push back against the oppression, build solidarity across the working class, and seek to build a more equitable, fair, and just Cincinnati for all? The choice is in our hands.