CLEVELAND — With this past weekend's mass shooting once again highlighting Cleveland's problems with hiring and keeping police officers, Mayor Justin Bibb and Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association President Det. Jeff Follmer have agreed to meet for what is being called the city's first "Public Safety Summit."
Both sides, along with Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 8 President Capt. Jim O'Malley, will begin meeting face-to-face this Wednesday in preparation for the actual summit on Aug. 23. Officials say the gathering will center around "Police Officer Retention, Recruitment, and Deployment."
Joining the involved parties will be Jack Buettner, a longtime federal mediator who will help "guide" discussions. Those initial talks will take place behind closed doors, with the goal of "find[ing] ways to further support the police officers who protect and serve our city."
"By unifying to discuss the current challenges in maintaining, expanding, and deploying the Division of Police, the city, FOP, and CPPA hope to create conditions in which the Cleveland Division of Police is an employer of choice for current and future Police Officers and operates as effectively and efficiently as possible in pursuit of public safety throughout the city," the city and both unions said in a joint statement.
Tuesday's announcement of the summit comes after nine people were injured early Sunday morning during a shooting in the Warehouse District. A male suspect remains at large, with Cleveland Police Chief Wayne Drummond telling 3News' Russ Mitchell on Monday that investigators are tracking down several "good leads."
During the conversation with Mitchell, Bibb appeared to allude to the planned summit when he indicated his administration was "in early conversations" with union leaders and that news on further developments would be coming "really soon." According to the mayor, topics of those conversations have ranged from "new signing bonused for new recruits to increasing academy pay."
"We're in a war for good talent to make sure we can have enough officers to keep our streets safe," Bibb added.
Currently, Cleveland is an estimated 200 or so officers below its stated goal of more than 1,400. However, while both the mayor and chief acknowledge the low numbers are a major problem, Drummond believes Sunday's shooting "was not a matter of staffing," saying the department had already increased the number of officers in the Warehouse District recently. Bibb further went on to blame a number of bills passed by the Republican-led Ohio General Assembly which have loosened gun restrictions in the state.
Still, Follmer believes more officers could help prevent incidents like we saw this past weekend, and claims pay disparities compared to neighboring departments are a major factor when it comes to current police employment.
"Officers are going to other suburbs that are paying more," Follmer told WKYC's Lydia Esparra. "Discipline still plays a factor in a lot of things. Officers want to know that we have City Hall to support us."