TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and Police Chief Mike Troendle will go over the city's third-quarter crime statistics on Tuesday.
The data released is intended to show where the city is when it comes to key problems like homicide, theft and robbery.
WTOL 11 spoke to two community leaders to gauge what that data might look like ahead of release and they say based on what they've seen, they're expecting to see a continuation of last quarter's data with things continuing to trend in a positive direction.
But they say there are things the city needs to continue working on if that trend can lead to lasting change.
Alfonso Narvaez has been serving the north Toledo community for decades.
As the former One Village Council President, he's spent many of his waking hours trying to prevent crime in the Glass City. It's a mission he shares with Shawn Mahone Sr.
Mahone has been working with troubled teens for over a decade with his Dose of Reality program, trying to keep kids on the straight and narrow in a world where bad influences can be common.
Both men have seen Toledo at its worst, but they've observed a positive shift in the last few months. They believe at Tuesday's conference, the mayor will announce that trend is continuing to happen.
"I'm expecting to hear from the mayor that the numbers are down still," said Mahone.
"Still hoping for it to go down more and more, but we're seeing a positive trend," said Narvaez.
Last quarter, TPD's data showed there have been 33% fewer homicides and robberies, 35% fewer thefts from motor vehicles, 9.6% fewer burglaries and 28% fewer shootings, all compared to last year's data.
Only auto thefts were up, however, the data didn't reflect crimes like rape or domestic violence.
Narvaez though said these numbers are a good sign.
"I think what it means is that the city is working harder and harder to get into the neighborhoods and to get what we need," said Narvaez.
But both men say there's a data point that is often not talked about: the amount of youth violence.
"We're still having those gang issues, that's probably the biggest issue right now," said Narvaez. "Trying to get our youth and those involved in gangs off the streets."
So far this year, 12 of the city's 31 homicide victims have been 18 or younger, and TPD's gang task force has told WTOL 11 that gang members are now as young as 13.
Mahone said it's a product of a juvenile system giving young criminals a slap on the wrist.
"When there's no accountability coming from the juvenile court system and no accountability coming from the homes, then we're going to continue to have these issues in our community," said Mahone.
He said if the city doesn't tamp down on the behavior of its youth, this positive trend will return to the usual cycle of violence.
WTOL 11 will be at the press conference tomorrow when the city reveals its new crime stats.
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