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Cleveland union president cites ‘Ferguson effect’ as cause for crime trends

While violent crime is up in Cleveland, fewer criminal cases are appearing in court

By Police1 Staff

CLEVELAND, Ohio — An investigation by the FOX 8 Cleveland team found that violent crimes are increasing in the city, but court appearances are decreasing.

Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association President Steve Loomis told the publication the trend is due to the current culture around policing.

“Call it the Ferguson effect, call it the Baltimore effect, call it the Cleveland effect. Guys are no longer willing to proactively police,” Loomis told FOX 8.

Officers are hesitating to fight crime because they’re afraid of the consequences, tired of seeing riots against police and have become demoralized by federal officials questioning their operations, Loomis told the news site.

Crimes have increased. Statistics obtained by the FOX 8 team show armed robberies have risen 7 percent, murder is up 18 percent and felony assaults with a gun have risen 32 percent.

Felony cases filed with the Cleveland Clerk’s Office have decreased 19 percent, and where police turn in cases, indictments are down 12 percent.

Just this past week on Sept. 1, a man fired several shots at Cleveland cops on patrol.

“Do you want us to actively be policeman and go out and proactively police the neighborhoods and keep the good citizens of Cleveland safe or do you want us to appear to be doing that?” Loomis said in his interview.

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