CLEVELAND — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was back in Cleveland on Tuesday to provide an update on the state's ongoing partnership with the city to reduce violent crime. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, and Cuyahoga County Sheriff Harold Pretel were among the local leaders on hand for the briefing.
Last month, DeWine announced a new 'surge initiative,' deploying state resources to help combat violent crime in high-crime spots in Cleveland. The initiative combines the resources of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target "known criminal hot spots."
Since then, there have been three "surge initiative" operations, featuring the Ohio State Highway Patrol working alongside Cleveland police and other law enforcement agencies in 2-day missions.
At Tuesday's briefing, DeWine unveiled the following statistics that have been compiled so far from the three surge operations, including felony arrests made and guns seized:
Cleveland Precinct: Felony Arrests-Guns Seized
- August 15-16 — 4th District: 52 felony arrests, 16 guns seized
- August 24-25 — 3rd and 5th districts: 42 felony arrests, 28 guns seized
- September 6-7 — 2nd and 4th districts: 44 felony arrests, 19 guns seized
Total for all precincts listed: 138 felony arrests, 63 guns seized
"This is a coordination with the State of Ohio, the Cleveland Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office, ATF, US Marshals and others," DeWine stated. "The thing I want to emphasize is that this is a joint effort. These enforcement surges have focused specifically on repeat offenders, people who are not legally allowed to possess a firearm, yet they do that in spite of what the law says."
As part of the partnership, technology from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) has been utilized. The NIBIN system is used to match bullets and shell casings from crime scenes to firearms that are confiscated by police during the arrest of individuals who commit a crime with a firearm, or are found to be illegally carrying a firearm.
The importance of the NIBIN system was illustrated during an arrest in August of 2023. In two cases, guns seized were traced back to various crimes such as felonious assault, robbery and house shootings from crimes committed from December 2021 through February 2023. Another firearm was connected back to a June 2023 murder.
You can watch Tuesday's press conference in the player below:
So what's next?
"Where we decide to go is very much informed very much by what the Cleveland Police Department, the intelligence that they have and where they wanted to pinpoint based on the data that they have," DeWine stated.
Bibb spoke on the commitment to the surge initiative and how the city and state have worked together to apprehend violent criminals, "There are three keys to successful law enforcement partnerships. One, a sense of urgency. Two, data driven approaches. And three, trust trust trust. And I think the results speak for themselves that this collaboration has been very effective."
Previous reporting:
- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announces 'surge initiative' to help combat crime in Cleveland
- Watch: Cleveland 'surge initiative' uses helicopter to recover stolen car
- Ohio State Highway Patrol: 52 arrests made during 2-day 'surge initiative' operation in Cleveland neighborhood
- Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, police leaders announce increased wages and bonuses for cadets during 'Public Safety Summit' amid ongoing crime concerns
- 59 arrests, 240 guns seized in Cleveland as authorities reveal details of 'summer violent crime reduction initiative'
- Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, police leaders announce increased wages and bonuses for cadets during 'Public Safety Summit' amid ongoing crime concerns
- Ohio State Highway Patrol: Another 2-day 'surge initiative' operation in Cleveland neighborhoods leads to 42 more felony arrests