Cleveland pools will be open seven days a week this summer as part of the city’s seasonal safety plan, which includes giving youth more recreation opportunities and attention, Mayor Justin Bibb and top administration officials said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“We are going to be deploying an all-of-government approach to keep our streets safe and to keep young people productive and busy,” Bibb said, echoing a theme he’s promoted twice before in previous years ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, when cities often see a spike in violence.
The all-of-government approach involves tapping and coordinating resources of multiple departments — including Building and Housing, Utilities, Public Works, Community Relations and Aging — to complement the work of the Cleveland Division of Police and more quickly address resident concerns.
Hitting the streets to meet residents
Bibb said that he and city department officials will join members of City Council during neighborhood walks this summer to meet residents and log their concerns and complaints immediately on electronic devices. In past years, the top two concerns cited by residents during neighborhood walks were the high number of groundhogs and the need to add more “speed tables” to slow drivers racing through neighborhood streets, Bibb said.
This year, the walks will be followed a few weeks later with neighborhood pop-up events where residents can learn more about city services.
Focusing on pools and youth activities
Bibb and the other officials said they plan to engage more with young people. Alexandria Nichols, the new director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, said her team worked all winter to hire enough lifeguards to keep city pools and splash pads open seven days, from 1 to 7 p.m.
City officials also highlighted the free Summer Soundtrack program, which connects young people with job, academic and recreational opportunities.
Around 6,000 Cleveland youth (and 9,000 total) registered for summer jobs, “and we’re going to serve as many of those young people as we possibly can,” Bibb said.
Bibb also had a message for parents and guardians.
“There is no excuse for your young person not to have something to do from sun-up to sundown this summer season,” he said.
Police will focus on violent crime and traffic
Bibb said that Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond and Police Chief Dorothy Todd worked with county, state and federal law officials to develop a summer violent crime task force that has already begun to work. Its focus is on arresting repeat violent offenders.
Todd said that the violent crime numbers “are in line with last year.” Axios reported recently that violent crime is ticking up this year in Cleveland even as it declines in other big cities.
Uniformed officers will crack down on curfew violations, said Todd.
Cleveland will also disperse $1 million to organizations that work to reduce violence within neighborhoods, sometimes referred to as “violence interrupter” programs. Tiffany Scruggs, executive in residence for community services, said dispersing the money will help “to build up their capacity and support the community.”
Similar to efforts in past summers, Cleveland police will conduct traffic enforcement sweeps in “hot spots” all summer and into the fall. The locations will change when data and community input warrant, Todd said.
Officials also responded to questions about the city’s decision to shut down the popular AsiaTown Festival a few hours early on Sunday. Todd said it was shut down early because of crowd size, not violence.
“When we have a situation like overcrowding, we work with the event organizers to determine what the best path forward is,” Todd said.
The unusually cold winter created “a lot of pent-up demand for folks to be outside,” Bibb said about the festival, “and we are doing everything we possibly can to have safe spaces” for everyone.
