CLEVELAND (WJW) – Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and other city officials came together Tuesday to discuss what the city is doing to combat violent crime.
The Cleveland Division of Police recently released their midyear report for 2022, including a drop in arrests, 911 calls and gun seizures from last year.
“There is no one answer to reducing gun violence and crime in our city,” Bibb said. “We must be thoughtful, creative, and—most importantly—working closely with the community to deploy resources where they make a real impact.”
The Bibb Administration says it spent the summer focusing on family services and positive programs for young Clevelanders.
The city expanded Cleveland’s 22 Neighborhood Resource and Recreation Centers and doubled the budget for the municipal league football program.
It also held its first season of Hoops After Dark with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which ended Monday with the championship game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
City officials say the Division of Public Safety has been working on programs and events to build trust between the community and first responders like police, fire, animal control and EMS.
“We genuinely want to be in the community interacting in a positive way with residents,” said Police Chief Wayne Drummond. “If people know and trust us, we can do our jobs that much more effectively.”
Some of these events included the first Public Safety Week, Mayor’s Night Out Against Crime events and open houses at the fire department. They also planned events for kids like “Fishing with a Cop” at Lake Erie.
“Working with Clevelanders is how we build safer neighborhoods for everyone,” Drummond said.
A violence prevention working group also meets weekly “not just to improve public safety, but to also address the root causes of violence and build up protective factors that may stop violence before it starts,” the Bibb Administration said in a release.
“We are focused on getting resources into our neighborhoods while simultaneously working on a theory of change that will have generational impact,” said Pryor-Jones, Cleveland’s chief of youth and family success. “We continue to identify and assess violence prevention programs and work on meaningful metrics to see what’s actually helping and what isn’t.”