Cleveland Police to Victim of Crime: Get Out of Dodge by C. Ellen Connally

 

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Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood is a seemingly quiet and peaceful place to live. Located about five miles south of downtown, it is nestled between the Cuyahoga River, the City of Brooklyn and the City of Parma. The neighborhood website boasts that it is an accessible, family-friendly Cleveland neighborhood where businesses and people come to grow. It’s a place where Lolly the Trolley goes to show off one of Cleveland’s unique neighborhoods. So why would the Cleveland Police tell a resident to move?

According to Old Brooklyn resident Eugenio Moreno, that’s what happened to him last week when he was a victim of a crime. Interviewed by Channel 5 News, Moreno reported that he and his wife were awakened in the early hours of Friday morning by the sounds of gunshots that pierced his house in several places, bullets that could easily have struck him, his wife and toddler as they lay sleeping. Neighbors were also shocked with the sudden onset of violence in their otherwise tranquil residential community.

After investigating the shooting spree, and coming up with no suspects or leads, Cleveland Police detectives, according to Moreno, told him that his only option to avoid further danger was to move — that’s right — get out of Dodge. They went on to say, again based on statements made by Moreno, that he was in such grave danger that subsequent visits by the police would likely involve the removal of people in body bags — a pretty grim prediction that sounds more like advice given to residents of a war zone rather than a Cleveland neighborhood.

The Cleveland Police declined an interview with Channel 5 to verify or deny the statements made by the police, so all we can rely on is Moreno’s statement.

The subliminal message delivered by the story was that Cleveland is so dangerous, the best thing for residents is to leave. Certainly, this is not the image of our Cleveland neighborhoods that should be disseminated to present or prospective residents.

I am the first to admit that there are two sides to every story. While I have every reason to believe that Moreno is a law-abiding citizen, I will concede that it is possible that there is something that the police and/or Moreno know about the shootings that was not disclosed in the news account and his conversations with the media. Was Moreno targeted? Was there a reason that someone was shooting into his house?

But that being said, it seems to me that it is an error in judgment — to say the least — for a member of the Cleveland Police Department to tell a crime victim to get out of the neighborhood because we — the police — can’t protect you in such a dangerous area. What the police should be doing is attempting to solve the crime.

Census records reflect that Cleveland’s population declined 2.2 % between 2010 and 2015 — from the 397,000 in 2010 to 388,000 in 2015, down from Cleveland’s high water mark of population in 1950 when the population exceeded 914,000. White flight, an aging housing inventory and the growth of suburbia have all combined to significantly reduce the city’s population. So we don’t need police officers contributing to the exodus of people from Cleveland.

Exiting residents — especially those who leave in a hurry — often leave behind vacant and abandoned properties, which can be the starting point for the deterioration of an entire block and the ultimate decline of an otherwise vibrant community.

At a time when the city is getting its pride back, thanks to the Cavaliers and Indians, this summer’s successful Republican Convention, growth in, and neighborhoods like Gordon Square, Ohio City and Hough, in addition to a booming downtown, what we need are police officers who are proud of the neighborhoods they serve and are working to prevent crimes and helping to solve problems in the neighborhoods — not create more.

CEllenDogs

C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection and was recently appointed to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.

 

 

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