We Need Some New Ideas

A couple of weeks ago, the Cleveland Heights 6:00 pm curfew for teenagers under 18 years of age in the Coventry and Cedar/Lee business districts was expanded to include the Severance Business District.  Councilwoman Bonnie Caplan cast the lone dissenting vote.
It isn’t easy to break from the crowd and dissent on such an important issue. Anti-social and criminal behavior by juveniles is a red hot issue in our community, and there have been some serious incidents at Severance Town Center, particularly at the Regal Cinemas. And Thanksgiving weekend, 16 year old resident, Artwon Oliver, was murdered near the intersection of Lee & Superior roads, in a another senseless act of violence. I hope Caplan doesn’t change her mind following this tragedy, which our curfew couldn’t prevent. I think it took guts for her to take an unpopular stand and say, “We need to have another solution.”
Getting to know the Youth of Coventry no doubt played a role in reshaping Caplan’s view of the curfew. “These are really terrific kids”, she said about them when she explained her “no” vote to the council meeting audience.
The same can’t be said about the four young men arrested for the murder of Oliver, none of whom are Cleveland Heights residents. Though we couldn’t prevent this senseless tragedy, I am thankful the Cleveland Heights Police Department was able to apprehend the suspects within two days. That was good police work. And I applaud their effort to keep citizens informed about the investigation. The more information we can broadcast in a timely manner about this terrible event, and all crime in our city, the better.
I have struggled with the business district curfew for teenagers since the day it was enacted last June. Yes, I agree we needed to take swift and decisive action to restore order in these areas, which are critical to our vitality as a community. And the curfew helped do so. Coventry and Cedar/Lee appear much safer for evening patrons of our local businesses, who report sales and patronage back to previous norms, which is a very good thing. So the obvious question is, “why do we still need it?”
Most of the troublemakers aren’t residents, according to the police, yet we’ve created a curfew restriction that long term casts our community in a negative light, while punishing innocent local teens for the problems non-resident juveniles cause in our community. I fear the more we expand it and the longer we keep it in place, we’ll decide “adults only” evening business districts are okay, and make the aggressive curfew restrictions permanent. This is not what I want Cleveland Heights to be known for.
I know our city officials are deeply concerned about public safety. It is their number one priority, and evident in the changes we’ve seen in our police tactics following the disastrous aftermath of the June Coventry Street Fair. We have instituted very successful foot patrols in four of our business districts and installed security cameras in many commercial areas to combat criminal activity. Our police monitor social networking sites to stay on top of juvenile activity we need to be wary of. We collaborate with other local police departments and share best practices for preventing juvenile disturbances. We’re told all of this is working to reduce juvenile crime, yet we can’t keep the peace at the Regal Cinemas right across the street from City Hall and our Police Department Headquarters without expanding the curfew? Councilwoman Caplan is right. We need some new ideas.
We need new ideas because the long term vitality of our community is at risk due to the growing perception that our community is not safe. My wife and I never used to worry about walking home from dinner or a movie, or just taking an after dark stroll in our own neighborhood. We are far more cautious now, as are so many or our neighbors and friends, and worry about the number of nearby homes that may be for sale this spring due to the murder of Oliver, and the October drive-by shooting on Cottage Grove. Add these two incidents to all the break-ins, assaults and general disturbances in our neighborhood and throughout the city, and that we now have restrictive curfews in three business districts, and I conclude it has not been a good year for confidence in public safety.
On the positive side, our Berkshire neighborhood group is expanding to team up with other resident groups on adjacent and nearby streets to try to combat and prevent crime in our area. We are taking action on sensible ideas for proactive communication and personal safety measures we can all take to protect ourselves from the threats we are experiencing to our way of life. This is great, and indicative of the terrific people I’m proud to call my neighbors and friends. Numerous neighborhood groups across the city are doing likewise. We all want to feel safe and we want Cleveland Heights to thrive and be the best possible place to call home. Much more needs to be done, though.
In 2012, I am looking for aggressive leadership from the city, our courts, our schools and our social institutions to help us create more new and innovative intervention and crime prevention strategies. I want to hear and read every month about how city leadership and our public safety officials are effectively addressing this crisis, and why the public should be confident that our strategies will work to keep our neighborhoods safe. I also want to know when we plan to rescind the restrictive curfew on teenagers we’ve enacted in these three business districts, and what our long term strategy is to prevent crime and manage troublemakers to keep these areas vibrant and safe.
We need new ideas and a comprehensive strategy to build community confidence that Cleveland Heights remains a safe place to live, and visit. Continued reliance on curfew restrictions to protect select areas from teenagers isn’t a confidence builder for me.

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