Scene at Fourth District community meeting

Note: The Cleveland Police Fourth District includes Kinsman, Woodland Hills, Buckeye-Shaker, Mt. Pleasant, Union-Miles, the South Broadway section of Slavic Village and Lee-Miles

The meeting began at 6:05 p.m. Co-chair Bernita Thomas facilitated the meeting and led a prayer. 

Acting Fourth District Cleveland Police Commander Shawn Smith announced that the Fourth District’s facilities will be upgraded as part of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Raising Investment in Safety (RISE) Initiative. The Fourth District headquarters will be closed on April 9 and for 12 hours on April 15 as part of a plan to upgrade Cleveland Police buildings’ electricity, heating and cooling systems. Smith encouraged residents who need to make a report in person to go to the Third District, 4501 Chester Ave.,  on those days or call for a car to come to their house to take a report. Residents can still call the Fourth District while the facilities are closed. 

To accommodate more residents from across the district at these meetings, Smith said that the next two meetings will take place at Holy Trinity Baptist Church, 3808 E. 131st St. The June and July’s meetings will be held in Slavic Village, location to be announced. 

Ring cameras used to help solve crimes

As of Monday, March 23, murders and rapes in the Fourth District are up (compared to the past two years before this date). Most of these cases have been solved; the perpetrators were acquaintances of the victims, Smith said. Ring cameras and other cameras have helped the department solve these cases, he added. Robberies, felonious assaults, felonious assaults with weapons, burglaries, auto thefts and arson are all down. 

Smith said that the district is focusing on cars parked on sidewalks in front of yards; they are writing more tickets and towing more cars that do that. He encouraged residents to inform their neighbors and to report cars parked on sidewalks and tree lawns. He clarified that construction workers can sometimes be exempt and that residents cannot park cars in the yards of vacant lots, even if they own them. 

Illegal dumping and protections for witnesses

Timothy Troup, assistant prosecuting attorney with the county, said cases from the fourth region (which includes Cleveland’s Fourth District) are down about 20% compared to this time last year. Troup said he does not know why, but noted that Smith said that arrests are also down. 

Troup shared information from Glen Ramdhan, prosecutor of environmental crimes for the county. Troup said the prosecutor’s office tries to go after large-scale, open dumping cases, but that they are complicated because they require catching someone in the act of dumping. He said that if residents call and report illegal dumping that leads to an indictment, they can receive up to $2,500. 

A resident asked if someone could send video footage of someone illegally dumping without appearing in court. Troup said that prosecutors try to omit witnesses that they do not need, but without witnesses, there may not be enough evidence to build a case. 

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A lengthy conversation about illegal dumping and protections for witnesses ensued. Residents were concerned that if they were identified as witnesses, they could be retaliated against. Troup said that if there is a legitimate threat of violence against them, residents should contact the police, but that without that, residents are not guaranteed protection. 

Ward 5 Council Member Richard Starr was in attendance and said that illegal dumping is a major issue, especially at Rid-All Green Partnership, and asked what can be done to prevent it. Troup said that calling the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Environmental Crimes Task Force is the first step and that he would ask Ramdhan for more information ahead of the next meeting. 

A resident mentioned a specific situation that she was having with a neighbor in which she feared retaliation. Starr said she could seek out a mediator. 

Downed wires and arsons

Lieutenant Michael Norman shared updates: 

1. Currently, wind and downed wires are a focus of the division. Open burns are always illegal; with the wind, they have been blowing into houses. 
2. At two fires — one on Notre Dame Avenue and one on East 104th Street — victims were removed by the fire division. 
3. Norman reported two arsons on Lakeview Road in Glenville.

Crisis Intervention Team updates

Sergeant Matt Brown, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer, spoke about Cleveland’s CIT program and shared updates on specialized CIT officers. He explained the program basics: 

1. Specialized CIT officers elect to join the program as volunteers who are passionate about crisis intervention. 
2. The training is 40 hours and consists of mock scenarios and de-escalation efforts. 
3. Specialized CIT officers are placed both within police districts and specialized units; they wear a CIT pin for easy identification. 
4. There will be over 200 specialized CIT officers in the city after an April class ends. 

Brown said that CDP has created co-responder teams, which consist of a master-level clinician and a specialized CIT officer who respond to calls together. Currently, there are seven teams; his goal is 10. He said the 2025 polished data will be available on the online CIT dashboard soon.

Smith said that before these programs existed, it was likely that many people experiencing crises would be taken straight to jail. 

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A resident asked if the crisis intervention team responds to Alzheimer’s and dementia issues. Brown said yes. 

A resident asked if CDP works with the diversion center, which she called underutilized. Brown said sometimes, but that his personal experience with the diversion center was that many people left voluntarily once taken there. The Centers will open a new crisis center. 

A resident asked if the CIT program was a result of the consent decree. Brown said that before the consent decree, there was a CIT program, but that the consent decree led to the current specialized CIT and co-responder programs. 

Other announcements

A commander from the Auxiliary Police — trained and uniformed volunteer police — said that they worked at the recent NCAA wrestling event at Rocket Arena and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown.

Fourth District Community Relations Board Representative Edwin Parris said that he is working with NuPoint Community Development Corp. to develop a new community meeting that will move throughout the district. 

Thomas acknowledged the recent death of community activist Khalid Samad. 

The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. 

These notes are by Documenter Ava Carubia. Documenter Marvetta Rutherford also recorded audio.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org  with “Correction Request” in the subject line.