Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is crediting not just police for a reduction in crime this summer, but the work of city staff across departments cleaning up streets and vacant lots, filling potholes and providing youth and families with support services. Murders were down 37% this summer compared to last summer and violent crime overall and property crime were both down 13% this summer compared to the last two summers, according to Cleveland police data. “Reducing violent crime and keeping our city safe and secure is a group project,” Bibb said at a press conference at Cleveland Division of Police’s Third District on Wednesday. “Government can’t do it alone. We have a lot more work to do, but today is a positive milestone in terms of the work we’ve been doing to reduce violent crime in our fair city.”Bibb announced the summer safety plan in May, promising that police would work alongside other city departments to not just address crime but also root causes of violence. The Department of Public Works stepped up its responses to potholes, illegal dumping, dead animal pickup and vacant property violations, Bibb said. The Department of Building and Housing cut grass and removed debris at hundreds of sites. Sonya Pryor-Jones, the city’s chief of Youth and Family Success, said she and other city employees are analyzing data to figure out what other resources community members might need to feel safer. “Often people think you just have to address what’s going on with an individual, but their environment is also very much a part of this work,” Pryor-Jones told Signal Cleveland. “And so I’m very grateful that we have on board our public works, our public utilities, our housing team because everybody is really starting to understand that it is the environment that also has implications for how people get to engage in community.”City working to address root causesOver the summer, members of the city’s Community Relations Board worked with police in hotspot areas engaging with youth under 20 years old from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Angela D. Shute-Woodson, board director, said in the news conference. They learned that a lot of youth out past curfew were hungry and looking for food. Shute-Woodson is now working with other city departments to address the food issue, she said. Social support specialists working at recreation centers are finding ways to prevent violence by providing resources to families in need. The city is also working with community organizers already doing violence prevention work. Through new programs like the Neighborhood Safety Fund, which allocated $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act money, the city is investing in community organizations working to reduce violence.The city is also preparing to launch its new Cleveland Thrive program, with the goal of creating a community violence intervention network. The program is funded by an almost $2 million U.S. Department of Justice grant. Brenda Glass, founder and CEO of the Brenda Glass Trauma Center, is one of several community partners working with the city on violence prevention. She said she is already working with two organizations she learned about by working with the Thrive program. The Brenda Glass Center received $82,000 through the Neighborhood Safety Fund. That money will help Glass pay the salary of one of her staff members and pay for a safe housing unit for one year, she said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for people to benefit from the services that we offer in this community,” she said. “But we don’t have the funding to actually build it up.”Organizations need more fundingMyesha Watkins, executive director of Peacemakers Alliance, one of the organizations partnering with the city, said she’s grateful for the mayor’s approach. But maintaining that momentum will take time and sustained collective effort. “You cannot think that one organization is going to solve all of the violence,” Watkins said. “Hence why law enforcement can’t do it. Law enforcement has 53% of the city’s budget, and yet they do not have to defend whether crime is up or down.”Gun violence remains the leading cause of death for youths nationally, Watkins said. She would like to see the city invest more of its own money and resources in violence prevention. The Neighborhood Safety Fund and the Thrive program are both funded through one-time federal dollars. Pryor-Jones said the city will continue to look for funding and will help community organizations apply for funding to continue the work they do. “I’m grateful for all of the people who have been working at this a long time, before we ever showed up,” Pryor-Jones said. “And for them trusting us, to be our partners, to do something different for our city.”According to city officials:Cleveland had 44 murders between the start of May and the end of August, compared to 70 in the summer of 2023 and 67 in the summer of 2022.Felonious assault and robbery cases were both down 13% this summer from the previous two summers. Reported rape cases increased by 4%.Car thefts were down 27% this summer and other thefts dropped by 10%. Arson cases increased 14%. Burglary cases increased by 2%. The post ‘A group project’: Mayor Bibb credits city departments and community groups for summer crime reduction. appeared first on Signal Cleveland.First published by Signal Cleveland.