CLEVELAND — Cleveland City Council Safety Committee is expected to meet Wednesday morning. On the agenda is how Cleveland police plan to combat the crime that is happening in Cleveland neighborhoods.
Cleveland Police Administration is expected to be at the meeting to present its plan to stop the violence for the rest of the summer.
News 5 has learned that the plan includes help from other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies that will be laser-focused on certain areas of the city.
“We’re talking about microgrids which is a very small area in our hot spots, so we’ll focus on individuals who are violent individuals or trigger pullers as we call them, and they’re the drivers of violence in our community,” said Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond.
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are two agencies that have committed to helping curb the crime problem in Cleveland.
While crime is climbing, the number of Cleveland police officers has dropped to 1932 staffing levels. The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department has committed to sending manpower to downtown Cleveland. The Ohio State Highway Patrol has been on the streets of Cleveland since the spring helping with traffic enforcement.
“Traffic enforcement is a huge part in deterring crime,” said Sgt. Bridget Matt, public information officer for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
OSHP was called to help in Cleveland twice in 2022. In April of 2022, a three-day initiative resulted in 46 illegal firearms being seized, the recovery of four stolen vehicles and 13 felony drug cases initiated.
In August of 2022, a two-day detail ended with 9 felony arrests, 8 felony drug cases started, 23 illegal weapons seized and two stolen vehicles recovered.
Beginning this month, OSHP will help in a crime reduction initiative in violent crime hotspots.
“ We will be utilizing our troopers, our investigators, our Ohio Investigative Unit agents, as well as our aviation section and our special response team. So, we are pulling from all of our resources to make sure that we have a significant impact for the citizens of Cleveland,” added Matt.
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