Dayton’s city commissioners plan to review a list of downtown safety recommendations, which were made by a group led by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner.
Earlier this month, Turner's Downtown Dayton Safety Work Group announced a host of recommendations such as a census of unhoused people downtown, increased policing and business involvement. The group, made of political, nonprofit and business leaders, wants city and county leaders to sign on to these proposals.
The recommendations have also drawn some backlash. Some residents told the city commission they disagree with the suggestions, because city stats show crime — whether violent, property and drugs — was all down in 2025.
Montgomery County commissioners are also reviewing the group's suggestions.
Turner (R-Dayton), began this group last August.
"This is going to take a coordinated approach from everyone to ensure that downtown remains safe, that the investment that we've made remains safe, and that downtown remains our focus of a place for our community to gather and enjoy," Turner said.
Crime is down
The Central Business District is comprised of Webster Station, Oregon District, part of Midtown and downtown proper.
"Downtown is safe," said Eric Henderson, deputy chief with Dayton Police Department. "I frequent downtown a lot outside of work hours, and I feel like downtown's safe."
Henderson grew up in the Fairview neighborhood and graduated from Dayton Public Schools. Downtown can have challenges, but, according to Henderson, the department is managing those challenges with numerous strategies, such as hot spot policing.
"Analyzing data, seeing where your crime hotspots are and spending additional time. Research has shown just spending 15 minutes in an area every hour may help reduce crime," Henderson said. "We look at repeat offenders, work with the probation department or with the court system if they're committing the crimes because IF they have an addiction, are we addressing that addiction. Also, dealing with graffiti to show how they're harming the community."
Also Henderson said, the departments’ multi-level approach is making Dayton’s Central Business District safer. WYSO obtained police data for the area that shows:
- There were 58 violent crimes in 2025. This includes murder, robbery, rape and aggravated assault. In 2024, there were 79. The 2023, that number was 73.
- There were 316 property crimes in 2025. This includes criminal arson, burglary, shoplifting larceny and vehicle theft. The year prior, there were 410, and in 2023 there were 412.
- Meanwhile in 2025, there were 63 drug and narcotic crimes. In 2024, there were 92 and in 2023, there were 97.
"I frequent downtown a lot outside of work hours, and I feel like downtown's safe."Eric Henderson, Dayton deputy police chief
Wednesday morning, Dayton city commissioners voted to review the recommendations from Turner’s Downtown Dayton Safety Work Group.
City commission, residents react
Commissioner Darius Beckham is part of the group and said despite decreasing crime stats, the safety group is proactively trying to change how the average person sees downtown.
"I think there's a perception that our city at times struggles with safety. However, criminal activity, it's decreasing," Beckham said. "But I think this is a conversation about how to ensure that there are no further or no future problems as it relates to safety and unwanted criminal behavior downtown."
Under the first category of recommendations, justice and policing, the working group suggests a new communication system so private security providers can talk with each other and to Dayton Police, urging the Montgomery County Sheriff to provide security to county properties downtown and building a substation to increase patrols there.
During the public comment period, some Dayton residents objected to these suggestions. Resident Berkley Moore fears this last idea could hurt surrounding neighborhoods.
"While increasing police presence downtown, how would that affect our neighborhood? Does that mean the police presence in other parts of the city will be decreased?" Moore said.
"When we rely on perception, it leads to misinformed choices."Ebony Hastings, Dayton resident
The group also wants the Dayton RTA to create its own security at its downtown hub and for the Dayton Municipal Court to create a docket to hear cases from this area.
Another resident, Ebony Hastings, questioned the validity of this idea.
"Dayton Municipal Courts does not have the capacity to have a docket separate for what is going on in downtown Dayton," Hastings said. "We need real-time communication with the residents."
The second group of recommendations were about social services. Some of these ideas include limiting group homes through code enforcement, enforcing existing codes and ordinances on retail establishments where criminal behavior occurs, creating a list of afterschool programs for students who rely on the RTA to get to and from school, getting an accurate count of the unhoused population in the Central District, and creating a comprehensive inventory of social services.
Lynn Lamance said she’s worried about how unhoused people will be treated.
"So when the homeless or the poor are legitimately in downtown Dayton, are they going to be targeted?" Lamance asked city commissioners.
The working group also recommends representatives from all levels of government meet on a regular basis to discuss issues and pending projects, as well as policies that encourage businesses to move downtown. Beckham said this kind of growth is vital.
"We want to just continue to grow our business center because we know without a strong economic base that is usually located in downtowns, we can not increase the income tax dollars that we use to support our neighborhoods," Beckham said.
Downtown businesses called to act, too
Lastly, the working group had recommendations for the business community: create an economic development/redevelopment fund to encourage capital investments, as well as review the existing business groups and streamline them.
"I would say that this sets a precedent and a model for how to bring concerns around safety to the commission. Then we can make decisions in the best interest of the whole city in terms of those recommendations."City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild
One working group member is Jason Woodard, founder of Woodard Development, which has 15 downtown properties. He advocates getting more workers to return to downtown offices.
"Pre-COVID, we had a very full office population. We had a lot of people on the streets from 8 to 5," Woodard said. "Post-COV-ID, we've seen a decline in the number of people that are in the office on a daily basis. The more people that we get downtown, the more you realize it's safe and it is an upward spiral."
The Downtown Dayton Safety Work Group says no tax dollars or funding is required to act on these recommendations.
Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild said he is encouraged by what this group has brought to the table and hopes other neighborhood leaders follow their example.
"I would say that this sets a precedent and a model for how to bring concerns around safety to the commission. Then we can make decisions in the best interest of the whole city in terms of those recommendations," Fairchild said.
All the while, Dayton resident Ebony Hastings extends this caution to Dayton’s political and business leaders.
"When we rely on perception, it leads to misinformed choices," Hastings said. "So clarify the perception with verifiable evidence to anchor plans and factual assessments surrounding downtown Dayton."
