Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2008
Source: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Copyright: 2008 The Plain Dealer
Contact:  http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/342
Note: priority given to local letter writers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States - News)

CLEVELAND, FEDERAL AGENCIES COMBINE TO RETURN SAFETY TO ROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS

Cleveland's Alliance With An Array Of Federal Agencies Offers Hope 
That Rough Neighborhoods Can Enjoy Safety Again

Many Clevelanders will remember 2007 as a year of fear, death and 
tragedy; a year in which it felt all too often as if they had lost 
their neighborhoods to drug dealers, gunslingers and gangs. Mayor 
Frank Jackson wants to make 2008 the year in which law-abiding 
Clevelanders take back the streets.

The mayor's plan begins with smart, aggressive law enforcement. 
Despite budget problems, he plans to put more police officers on the 
streets, to reconstitute a special gang squad and to shake up the 
homicide unit. He promises those officers better training and more 
sophisticated technology. He has instructed Police Chief Michael 
McGrath to concentrate those tools on drugs and guns, an unholy 
pairing that kills neighborhoods.

To do so, McGrath and his officers will build on alliances they have 
forged with the U.S. attorney's office, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and various probation departments. 
In league with U.S. Attorney Greg White, they are also cooperating 
with police departments from Toledo to Youngstown to secure federal 
money for anti-violence initiatives and to find common threads in 
gun- and drug-trafficking.

The ATF and White's prosecutors in particular will help with one of 
the city's most important and potentially dangerous plans: a 
crackdown on illegal gun possession in high-crime areas.

McGrath envisions almost daily gun-interdiction efforts this year; he 
and the mayor concede that these sweeps may well lead to some violent 
confrontations. Clearly, such operations must be conducted with great 
professionalism, care and respect for the rights and the safety of 
law-abiding citizens. But armed criminals have deprived too many good 
citizens of their right to lead peaceful, safe lives. McGrath is a 
savvy, veteran lawman. If he thinks this approach can uproot the 
cancer of gun violence on Cleveland's streets, he and his officers 
deserve the chance to try it.

But Cleveland cannot arrest or prosecute away crime. No city can. Law 
enforcement can suppress crime for a time, but unless enough people 
see productive alternatives to crime, there won't be long-term 
change. Those alternatives must include economic opportunities, 
effective re-entry programs and social services that fuel hope.

The mayor and his allies know that. An example: Anti-gang efforts in 
the St. Clair-Superior area have produced scores of federal 
indictments. That's absolutely critical. But now White has enlisted 
the Greater Cleveland Partnership to help run a workshop for 
neighborhood entrepreneurs, because he knows that's every bit as 
important to building a safer community.

Jackson and White are working on other initiatives to combine carrots 
and sticks. They're looking for partners among foundations, community 
groups and churches. Such multifaceted efforts have worked in other 
cities, and they can make a difference here, too.

The past tragic year has produced frequent calls for good people to 
"stand up" and change their communities. But well-meaning 
exhortations are meaningless without a plan and resources. Credit 
Jackson, White, McGrath and others with trying to build a platform on 
which those good people can stand.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom