By Olivia Mitchell
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — As gun violence continues to spike in Cleveland, the number of detectives investigating slayings and shootings is dwindling.
Through June, 92 people were killed in the city. That figure is expected to rise, as investigators await test results from the Cuyahoga County medical examiner’s office.
But the numbers of officers handling those cases are a fraction of what has been recommended. It comes at a time when Cleveland has 1,242 officers. It had 1,600 as recently as a few years ago.
“It becomes a challenge when specialized units like homicide, sex crimes and domestic violence are not properly staffed,” said Michael Polensek, the chairman of Cleveland City Council’s Public Safety Committee. “There is a domino effect, and we’re seeing unprecedented levels of violence in some neighborhoods across the city.”
The homicide unit has 16 detectives, three sergeants and a crime analyst. The unit is aided by an FBI analyst, a state crime analyst and an agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, according to Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia, a spokeswoman the department.
The homicide unit is budgeted for 23 detectives. A recommendation from the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Public Safety Partnership – an initiative aimed to help cities like Cleveland address violent crime and strategize greater efforts to reduce it – recommended the city needs at least 38 detectives to investigate the growing number of homicides.
The staffing has led to heavy caseloads. A 2016 report by the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank in Washington, D.C., recommended that the unit have enough officers so that each detective can handle a maximum of six cases a year.
Last year, the unit had 17 detectives who each examined an average of 13 cases. Those included child fatalities and investigations from the medical examiner’s office, Ciaccia said.
“Nobody has it easy right now in this police department as far as caseloads,” said Jeffrey Follmer, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association.
The number of detectives has not affected the solving of cases, however. The city’s rate is 73% for the year. To many, that is a major success, as the national average is 63%. Last year, the city’s rate was 71%, up from 69% in 2021.
Polensek said he would like to see more done.
“It tells us there are violent killers still running the streets that have not been apprehended,” Polensek said. “CPD must do everything possible to identify those individuals and bring them to justice on behalf of those families who have lost loved ones.”
Polensek has been outspoken on the shortage of police officers. Last month, he sent a letter to Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration and urged it to offer $10,000 signing bonuses for new hires. He has also suggested the city get help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the U.S. Marshals Service. He even recommended hiring retired officers.
A jump in homicides
Last year, 168 people were killed in Cleveland, a slight drop from 2021 when 171 suffered violent deaths.
This year is on pace to match the 192 people killed in 2020, the most homicides in Cleveland in decades.
But as the numbers of people killed increase, the people seeking to become police officers has dropped. One class at the city’s police academy has just nine recruits, another 12.
Follmer said the academy numbers are alarming considering at least 200 officers will be eligible for retirement next year. Twenty-one officers left the force in June.
“There are problems now, but if we don’t see an academy class of at least 50 to 100, there will be more problems by next summer, and we will see a record low of officers” Follmer said.
Capt. Jim O’Malley is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 9, which represents the department’s supervisors. He said the shortage of officers is just another part of an already trying job.
“It’s very difficult balancing with fewer detectives with special victims’ crime and homicide investigations, as they are the most serious crimes that can occur to a human being,” O’Malley wrote in an email to cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
“I’m confident that everyone, detectives and supervisors, in those units are ensuring that everything can be done with the investigations that they have. It is an added stress for sure, but this division has the most dedicated police officers I have ever seen.”
The city has attempted to fight back.
The homicide unit’s rate of solving cases increased after the division hired more analysts and purchased new technology to help detectives solve homicides faster and more efficiently. The department has found success with ShotSpotter, which detects gunshots and notifies police of the location.
The city also opened the Real Time Crime Center in 2020. It is staffed with analysts who use technology to gather information from license plate readers, traffic cameras and cell phone data to help solve crimes.
But officers and union officials say the city needs to do more.
Henry Hilow, attorney for the Cleveland’s Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the shortage of officers’ stems from city leaders.
“They have also failed to recognize the importance of detectives, especially in the homicide unit, because that directly impacts our communities, our safety, and well-being,” Hilow said. “It’s reflective of a systemic problem.”
Hilow said that over the years, the department has suffered from a lack of direction on important factors like funding and training. The attorney said that the high levels of crime in the city deters people from visiting here.
“Look at the crime statistics not only in the residential areas but downtown,” Hilow said. “And that affects your ability to invite people to come here and visit. This is not a problem that is going to be solved quickly.”
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