CLEVELAND — It’s been just over two weeks since a deadly shooting in Public Square, and concerns over safety downtown still linger.
“Most of the problems start late at night, once they’re off. Most of the crimes take place at 1, 2 o’clock in the morning,” said Kim Goodman of Euclid.
The Downtown Cleveland Alliance is launching a new program focusing on safety in Public Square, opening up a neighborhood safety center. The goal is to increase the number of armed and unarmed uniformed safety personnel, so people feel safe downtown.
“By far, downtown is much safer as it relates to part one crimes. Certainly, there are incidents and issues that happen, but we are making a concerted effort to increase that visibility,” said DCA’s Vice President of Operations Edward Eckert.
The unit will be staffed with two neighborhood safety specialists and two CPD service unit officers. With the recent violence that’s made headlines, some residents are being a little more cautious when doing things like walking their dogs after dark.
“ I thought this is probably not the safest time to walk him because it’s dark and there’s less things you can see in the shadows, so I try to walk him during lunchtime a little bit more,” said Normandie Berl. “I think it’s a great thing, just to make sure that situations get dealt with before they totally escalate. You never want to see any sort of crime happen. “
The program can be comparable to a similar effort in the Warehouse District to increase safety and security in recent years. They’ve now expanded it to include Public Square. According to public records as of October 22, there have been 19 homicides so far in 2022 in Cleveland’s District 3, which includes downtown. It was the second lowest number of all five of the city’s districts.
“In the Warehouse District, we had them deployed till 3:30 a.m. until after all of the entertainment venues closed here. We're going to start this program and operate it from 8 p.m. to midnight.”
Back in October, a 39-year-old man was shot and killed in Public Square. News 5 captured at least eight casings as well as money on the ground near the splash pad.
“No place is really safe anymore. You’ve got a lot of people that engage in criminal activity,” Goodman said. “To say one place is safer than another, I can’t really say that.”
As downtown continues to rebound from the pandemic, the city knows a vibrant city center can be an economic engine for the region. In just two weeks, the city will host its annual Winterland celebration that draws thousands of spectators to Public Square for the tree lighting ceremony.
“I encourage everybody to come down and enjoy the ambiance here during the holidays,” Eckert said. “As we continue to bring more people downtown, that adds to the overall level of safety in the neighborhood as well.”
