Mayor Jackson outlines new crime plans at SAFEighteen Conference
by Joe Narkin

(Plain Press, March 2008)  Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson spoke to 150 Ward 18 residents gathered at the West Side Community House on January 29, 2008 for the SAFEighteen Winter Public Safety Conference held by Councilman Jay Westbrook and Cudell Improvement, Inc.

Presenting the conference keynote address, the Mayor outlined his plan to strategically deploy teams of police officers in high crime areas throughout the city in an aggressive effort to reduce street crime involving illegal guns, gangs, drugs, gambling, and prostitution.  “There will be confrontation, but we have never had a neighborhood ask us not to come,” Jackson stressed.

Mayor Jackson stated that the city’s crime rate went down during his first two years in office as a result of joint efforts by the Cleveland Police Department and federal law enforcement officials in interdicting drugs and prosecuting individuals engaged in the organized drug trade.

 An increased homicide rate, territorial disputes between drug gangs, and  more powerful street guns makes his new initiative a natural extension of earlier crime fighting efforts, he noted.

The plan will target neighborhood areas identified as street crime hot spots. Teams of police officers will conduct daylong sweeps over sequential three-day periods in order to identify and arrest individuals carrying illegal weapons. All officers engaging in neighborhood gun sweeps will receive training from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in identifying behaviors that indicate possible possession of an illegal gun. Those arrested on illegal gun charges, especially those with felony records, may be referred for federal court prosecution, where longer sentences may be imposed. Efforts will also be made to trace the source and history of illegal guns seized during sweeps.

In response to public criticism that the Mayor’s plan may result in racial profiling, the Mayor stated that “We are profiling, but we are not profiling by race. We are not profiling by gender. We are profiling by criminal activities.”

Jackson cautioned that governmental and police action alone cannot completely eliminate street crime by focusing on crime alone, regardless of resources. Jackson described street crime as a symptom of larger issues related to lack of educational and economic opportunities, and noted that street crime has become an organized, highly profitable phenomenon within the current economic climate of the city of Cleveland.

Mayor Jackson stated that crime in Cleveland is “not about a bad city. It is not about bad neighborhoods. But it is about a bad economic situation.”   “Whenever you have this kind of money hanging out there, somebody is going to get it and create sophisticated organizations that employ young, local residents in order to effectively, efficiently, and profitably conduct their illegal business. Guns, drugs, prostitution, and gambling create profitable marketplaces, often patronized by individuals who do not live within the city. The city cannot afford such 24/7 activity,” stated the Mayor.

 “Where you have quality education and a prosperous economy, you have less dysfunctionality,” stated Jackson, adding that, overall, the manner in which the residents of Cleveland have handled dire social and economic circumstances in their neighborhoods should be applauded as an indication of the strength that exists within the City.

The Mayor referred to a lawsuit recently filed by the City of Cleveland that seeks recovery of hundreds of millions in damages from 21 mortgage lenders that have engaged in what Jackson sees as the equivalent of money laundering in the bundled buying and selling of subprime mortgage loans within the City of Cleveland. Subprime mortgages, including those that have defaulted, have had dire consequences in terms of loss of wealth, vacant homes, neighborhood distress, increased street crime activity, and public costs associated with securing, stabilization, and demolition of abandoned properties, according to Jackson. “I am suing Wall Street, and I intend to win,” said Jackson.

The Mayor said predatory lenders have engaged in organized, unethical activities that have “fed off of the misery of the people of Cleveland.” The Mayor stated that these lenders knew that their lending practices would greatly harm the City and its residents, but that the money was “just too good “ for them to resist. While admitting the City’s lawsuit could be viewed as a long shot, Jackson indicated his administration would pursue it with full force and that there have been indications other cities might be following the precedent established by Cleveland.

Mayor Jackson also congratulated the Cleveland City Council, and council member sponsors Kevin Conwell, Dona Brady, and Jay Westbrook, for passing legislation that gives enforcement powers to the Cleveland Department of Public Safety to address neighborhood nuisance violations.

Jackson says that this nuisance abatement legislation is designed to address problems associated with “systems of neglect” and represents a critical initiative in maintaining and improving the quality of life in Cleveland neighborhoods.

 “There is no crime that is too small” to address, he said, “because we do not want people to think that they can do whatever they want in the City of Cleveland” stated Jackson. The new legislation gives the city increased power and resources against crimes such as disorderly conduct, abuse of drugs, gambling, littering, obscenity, public sex offenses, offenses against property and persons, theft, open burning, and animal offenses. Armed with this legislation, the City of Cleveland has developed a computerized system for tracking nuisance violations that will allow the City to warn, fine, and take other enforcement action against repeat offenders.

(see related photos here)

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