CLEVELAND — Some Cleveland City Council members said they feel there's not enough awareness or solutions to combat the deadly violence happening in other neighborhoods.
Violence in Cleveland is nothing new, but what's concerning Cleveland Safety Committee Chair Michael Polensek is the rate at which it's happening with record-low officer shortages in the Cleveland police force.
This year, there have been 101 homicides, which puts Cleveland on track to break a 30-year high.
"There has been carnage every week in this city," Polensek said. "Every other day in this city."
Following the mass shooting Sunday that injured nine people on West 6th Street, that same day, a 16-year-old was shot and killed at Mark Tromba Park in Collinwood. Just this Saturday, officers were shot at down the street at the intersection of Ivanhoe Road and Mandalay Avenue.
"When someone or a group feels so bold, they can shoot at police officers, what that tells us is nobody is safe," Polensek said. "Nobody is safe in this city."
Polesenk said he wasn't briefed on either incident, which is unacceptable.
"If they think somehow the command staff, and whoever at city hall thinks by not talking to us in city council, by not advising us, by not engaging us, somehow, they think we are going to just ignore it, no," Polensek said.
Polensek said he wishes the administration had a better plan of action moving into the busy summer months and is frustrated it took a mass shooting to bring the issue to light again.
Council President Blaine Griffin said he's made Bibb and his administration aware of the council's concerns, despite Bibb not showing up to the city council meeting Wednesday. In a statement to News 5 earlier in the week, Bibb said he didn't show up because he did not want his or his cabinet's integrity and work ethic to be attacked.
"It was disappointing," Griffin said. "People want to see a seamless communication response whenever we have these kinds of things, or else they lack confidence in government."
Griffin said the root of crime in Cleveland keeps going back to the officer shortage and said he believes until that's addressed, the violence won't stop anytime soon.
"We are going to continue to have some of these challenges because right now, we just don't have enough bodies, and we need to get more bodies," Griffin said.
Griffin said he thinks the communication gap would be solved if the city embedded a police officer with the city council like in the past, but he said that's not possible now due to the department being short-staffed.
The mayor's office released the following statement:
"The Administration is being as open as we can with the city’s legislative body at this point in time given the fact that a lot of their inquiries are related to open, active, and very sensitive investigations. We cannot divulge certain information that compromises these investigations for the safety of witnesses, victims, and other members of the public. This is how these things are handled not just here, but in other cities and in Washington D.C. too. The FBI, Secret Service, and other federal agencies cannot share certain information with Congress that would put citizens in danger. It’s the same here.
At the end of the day, we’re focused on doing everything we can to find solutions rather than amplifying problems. We invite council to join us in doing the same.
The Administration values transparency and keeping an open line of communication with council and the public, which we have done extensively since taking office....... "
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