As a city we are losing control of our streets. The increase in violent crime in Ward 8 is negatively impacting the daily life of its residents. Gun violence is increasing among our youth and young adults. The easy accessibility to guns creates more opportunity for serious injury or death. Each day it appears that there is another gun related crime. The sale of drugs, car theft, street robberies and home break-ins also plague the Ward 8 neighborhoods.

Violence is not just in the street, it is also within our homes. We cannot ignore domestic violence and the impact of it on the youth. We must recognize that crime against the women in their homes by their husbands, boyfriends and even children is continuing at an unacceptable rate. Enough is enough. We must stop the abuser in our homes. They could normally be good providers, a loving partner and law –abiding citizen, but they quickly turn to violence leaving their victim with physical and emotional wounds, or even dead.  Although anyone can be an abuser in a home, approximately 97% of all abusers are men. We have to challenge men to seek help with their violent behavior. We must provide mental health and other services, both at the city and county levels, to assist people who are doing violence in their homes. When the violence is present women and children must have safe and accessible places to go to escape. We simply have to do more.

We cannot expect our community to be stronger and better without organizing to stop the violence and fight the crime in our community. I believe the solution to significantly reducing the crime rate within our community, and changing the violent direction we are going, is a much stronger partnership between City Hall and the neighborhoods (its people and organizations). How we deploy our police and investigate crime are major approaches that must be reviewed and improved. The use of police to be visible on our streets and their ability to solve the crimes that do occur will help to control crime. But that is not enough. We must organize our neighborhoods street by street. There have been too many street clubs that have stopped meeting and have gone away. An unorganized street makes it more vulnerable to criminals. Organizing street clubs will be a priority for me if elected to City Council. Also, we must improve the ability of the Cleveland Police to solve crime. We must improve its forensic capabilities to catch criminals before they commit more crimes. We must secure and evaluate evidence to insure conviction in court and prison time. Drug courts and nonviolent offender diversion programs are essential to stop the individual cycle of crime.

Community policing has worked in the past and can work today in the city and in Ward 8. Community policing means intimate and consistent visibility and activity by our police, and others involved in law enforcement, in the areas we live, work or shop. Neighborhood based storefront mini-police stations, foot and bike patrols, community-based safety education events and programs, and other ways to increase efforts to strengthen our police relationship with the residents of the community are important to do. As the former Director of the city’s Department of Community Relations I know the value of street clubs and stronger cooperative relationships between the police department and the neighborhoods.

In addition, to organizing to fight crime, we must recognize the importance of creating and expanding job opportunities for our residents. Improving economic and educational opportunities for anyone seeking help is critical in the long run to succeed in our fight against crime. We must also recognize the need to assist adult and juvenile ex-offenders returning from prison, or who remain in our community after a conviction. 5,000 ex-offenders return to the Northeast Ohio area ever year.  The majority are nonviolent offenders who did not finish school. They come back to their neighborhoods with little employable skills and a criminal record. The men, women and youth who have made bad decisions that caused them to have a criminal record should be assisted to find work and programs to improve their life skills. If they are willing to change we must help them. It is the right thing to do and can reduce repeat criminal behavior by them in our community.
In the end, government and its citizens working together will take back our streets and remove the violence from our homes.