CINCINNATI — Problems of mass fights between teenagers, misbehavior, breast walks and more were the focus of a joint meeting of Cincinnati city officials and Cincinnati Public School leadership Thursday night.

The problems have been a thorn in the side of people using mass transit hubs, such as those in Government Square and Oakley, as students get out of class and travel around the city in large groups.

A solution to the problem has eluded Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge.

“There has to be a solution to this. It can’t be the police every day at the forefront of this,” Theetge said.

The chief said her department has spent $416,000 in overtime just to patrol the region’s transit hubs during these times. And she said the problem didn’t get better.

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“There’s no responsible adult to make sure they’re somewhere other than when these groups misbehave,” Theetge said. “I think that’s part of the problem. No one’s watching them properly, so the police end up doing it.”

A group of volunteers who tried to be the adults watching over the students in the transit centers addressed the joint meeting on Thursday.

Iris Roley was in a big way leading the volunteers in Government Square from February. She said the volunteers were there as much to hold the police accountable and avoid student arrests as to keep the kids from misbehaving.

“You can’t put the police and the kids and leave them to their own devices,” Roley said.

Roley said while volunteers have visited transit hubs other than downtown in Government Square, she would like to see the program expanded.

“We want to encourage people in the neighborhood to come to these transit centers and work with these students,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Jan-Michelle Lemon Kearney chaired Thursday’s joint meeting and highlighted the council’s allocation of $100,000 to compensate volunteers and $50,000 to feed transit center youth as support already provided.

She said additional funds could be allocated if needed.

“Let’s see what it takes,” Kearney said. “I think that’s the key.”

Concerns over student fights, jaywalking continue at Cincinnati transit hubs

Emergency Communications Center Director Bill Vedra told the joint meeting that they will soon hire a 12-person community response team that should be deployed to transit centers to support police and volunteers by the end of the year.

He said the first group of employees began training earlier this week.

“Monday through Friday, we intend to have these people on hand as problem solvers,” Vedra said.

Theetge said the solutions, whatever they are, must come quickly.

“Unfortunately, the police, we now need quick, real-time, short-term solutions,” she said.

As for long-term solutions, the deputy mayor said that is being proposed by the school district restructuring plan of about 200 million dollars could eliminate much of the need for mass transit between cities.

Roley said the solution to youth violence needs to be much more comprehensive, including building affordable housing and programs to help people out of poverty.

“We, together, should try everything,” Theetge said.

CPS Interim Superintendent Shauna Murphy declined further comment after Thursday’s meeting.

The district, however, issued a statement: