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Here’s why police are writing more tickets on I-71/75 Hannah K. Sparling Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
justments will be made as the document reaches its fi nal form over the next few months. He insisted the documented wasn't an ordinance, but a set of standards that could make it into the fi nal ordinance. There is not a timeline for when the ordinance will be offi cially introduced. “There are serious problems that are associated with the operation of these emergency homes,” Meyer said. “Every time we try to engage in a conversation with this problem or that problem, the fi rst thing the advocates do is say ‘oh you hate the homeless, you want to get rid of them, you want to run them out!” and that shuts off the conversation.” The Executive Director of the Northern Kentucky Emergency Shelter, Kim Webb, told The Enquirer the shelter and the city “want only the best for Covington and its residents, so it is so critical for us to partner with the city to jointly develop solutions.” In 2019, about 300 people in the counties of Boone, Kenton and Campbell were counted in the Northern Kentucky homeless population according to the Kentucky Housing Corporation. Each year, the quasi-government agency organization counts how many people are experiencing homelessness in a 24-hour period at the end of January. That’s a low count compared to shelter statistics. The Fairhaven Rescue Mission shelter had 5,000 visits from men seeking shelter between 2017 and
There are cops everywhere. One, two, three – in a roughly seven-mile stretch along Interstate 71/75 in Northern Kentucky, there are at least fi ve police cruisers. Flashing lights. The wail of sirens. Around nearly every bend, there’s another driver pulled over, getting a ticket. One woman, fl agged for driving 86 miles per hour in a 55 zone, told Erlanger Police Department Cpl. Josh Nezi she was headed back to school after fall break and was trying to make it in time for class. Another driver, going 75 in a 55, was on his phone. Typically, Nezi might write one or two traffi c tickets during a 12-hour shift, depending on what calls come in. On Oct. 14, during a scheduled enforcement blitz on I-75, he wrote seven tickets and one warning in just two hours. “People ask me if I feel bad writing tickets, and you do to an extent,” he said. “But when you’re doing 20 to 25 miles over…” If you didn’t know this enforcement blitz was coming, you should have. Because we warned you. And, via press releases and social media posts, so did the city of Erlanger, the Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and police forces up and down the stretch of highway that runs from the Ohio River to Interstate 275 in Erlanger. “We don’t want to sneak up on anybody,” said Edward Bailey Jr., a retired police offi cer and current grants manager for Erlanger. Bailey is helping coordinate the enforcement blitzes on I-75, which are part of a federally funded campaign against aggressive and dangerous driving. “We’re telling you for a reason,” Bailey said. “We don’t want everyone to get tickets, we want the behavior to change.” Perhaps surprisingly, social media reaction to the fl ood of enforcement has been fairly positive – though, admittedly, not from the drivers actually getting tickets. Instead, it’s been more of a righ-
See SHELTER, Page 2A
See TICKETS , Page 8A
A person sleeps last winter at the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky in Covington. CARA OWSLEY/THE ENQUIRER
Homeless shelter fi ght Would proposal improve services - or outlaw shelters?
Julia Fair Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
COVINGTON, Ky. — Hundreds of people might not have a homeless shelter to go to if this Northern Kentucky city adopts a bill setting stricter standards for such facilities. From location restrictions to bike rack requirements, each of the city’s four shelters would have to make changes under a draft of the ordinance of obtained by The Enquirer. While city offi cials said the changes are necessary to address the “burden” it carries by hosting regional social services, others said it seems to be written with the intent to close the shelters. “I’m an open-minded person so I could see how either the people who authored it just don’t know anything about the issue of homelessness or how shelters are operated,” said Hamilton County’s Strategies to End Homelessness CEO and President Kevin Finn. “Or, their intention is to make it impossible for shelters to operate.” Some of the shelters would have to relocate under the draft ordinance rules. The shelters – Northern Kentucky Emergency Shelter, Welcome House, Fairhaven Rescue Mission and Women’s Crisis Center – either declined to comment on the ordinance specifi cs or could not be reached for comment. Covington Mayor Joe Meyer said dozens of ad-
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