CLEVELAND, OH — Cleveland police and Gov. Mike DeWine’s office touted the results of a violent crime reduction operation that led to 11 arrests and took eight illegally possessed guns off the city’s streets Wednesday.
“We got bad people off the street, and we'll continue to get bad people off the street,” said Cleveland Police Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz.
The operation was a collaboration between police, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputies, U.S. Marshal’s Service and Ohio Investigative Unit.
Diaz said it focused on both traffic enforcement and executing search warrants and arrest warrants targeting suspected criminals identified through ongoing investigations.
“[We] use intelligence-led policing to really saturate specific areas where we believe there’s an influx of crime, violent crime in particular,” said Diaz.
The numbers were music to the ears of Councilman Mike Polensek.
“We want this presence,” said Polensek, who chairs the council’s Safety Committee. “We want this presence in our neighborhoods. You’ve got to lay the law down. Our residents want this to take place.”
Polensek previously called on Mayor Justin Bibb to ask for help from the state and county to address what he called ridiculous levels of violence in the city.
Polensek cited numbers showing Cleveland police have lost hundreds of officers over the last two decades.
‘If we're going to reclaim our streets, that's what it's going to be, all hands on deck,” said Polensek.
Diaz said more of the special details are already planned, but would not reveal specific details.
He did offer this warning to the criminals terrorizing the city.
“If there are any bad actors that watch Channel 5, we want this message to get out,” said Diaz, “That we didn’t get you this time, we’re going to get you next time.”
