CLEVELAND — Multiple Cuyahoga County leaders are putting pressure on Sheriff Harold Pretel to cut costs.
In a Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday over the reappointment of Pretel as Sheriff, county councilmembers raised concerns about spending and questioned whether taxpayers should be on the hook for Pretel's Downtown Safety Patrol Unit in Cleveland.
Before councilmembers lobbed questions at the sheriff, County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley took the podium to discuss his issues with the functioning of the unit.
"As we continue to provide more and more services to the City of Cleveland like the downtown patrol, I would suggest that we have some leverage," O'Malley said. "They get a downtown patrol, which quite frankly they should be paying (for). We have de-incentivized any need for them to hire police on their own, because we are now picking up that expense at the county’s expense."
The prosecutor argued the county needs to come to an agreement with the city of Cleveland to be compensated for the downtown work.
"Our cash continues to go down, while their cash surplus continues to go up," he told legislators. "And not that I don’t think we should be fulfilling that obligation while we need police, because I think that we right now are at a critical time where the City of Cleveland is down police officers, but while we are furnishing this benefit to them, I think we should be being compensated fairly."
Watch the full meeting below:
Pretel was appointed Sheriff in July 2023 and created the unit in August 2023 in response to a rise of violent crime in downtown Cleveland. He says seven deputies and one sergeant make up the unit, which is a mobile task force that addresses needs downtown and also deploys to other cities when needed.
According to council, the operational cost of the unit is $1.2 million a year.
County Councilmember Michael Gallagher — a Republican who represents Berea, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Strongsville, and Olmsted Township — posed multiple questions to Pretel about spending and stated his own frustrations.
"We have never in the history of Cuyahoga County had a division be so over budget," Gallagher said. "We've got nothing but budget deficits here, and we've got a problem with our finances overall. Going forward, we've got to be careful, but for some reason, it's not careful in your division."
Throughout questioning, Pretel defended his department's actions, saying the spending was necessary and within his right as sheriff. He stressed that the task force is not solely focused on the downtown area and the deputies are not responding to 911 calls, so their work downtown isn't done on a fee-basis with Cleveland police.
Still, Pretel argues the work downtown by the unit is helping all of Cuyahoga County.
"They've been extremely effective in firearms seizures. In fact, more than any other police department in Northeast Ohio, they've been very effective at impacting the cycle of violence, and that has made downtown safer during the hours that they that they work," he said. "Downtown was a very focused area. That geographic area is the center of gravity for our county. Downtown is a location where everybody's neighbor, friends, and families come."
When asked about spending, Pretel told 3News in an interview that overtime pay is on par with what the department spent the last four to five years. Despite that, the sheriff says they're cutting costs where they can.
"In various areas, we have various strategies, such as realigning shifts such as redeployment of deputies, such as working with officers upstairs, increasing attendance," he explained. "Attendance is a huge factor because (of) when someone doesn't come to work and somebody has to fill out on overtime."
Even as councilmembers peppered Pretel, they also praised his work since being appointed as sheriff. A spokesperson for Cuyahoga County sent 3News a statement reading, "The Ronayne Administration fully supports the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department's ongoing efforts to protect our communities. The Downtown Safety Patrol has created a safe environment for residents, workers, and visitors in downtown Cleveland. The Sheriff's Department will continue to deploy personnel based on operational needs."
On Monday, county council will meet to begin reviewing the 2025 budget. Gallagher says they will need to aggressively find ways to cut costs.