In the general area of Safety, Cleveland faces a number of issues, and specific challenges under each, that must be addressed:

• Areas Perceived as Unsafe
• Areas of concentrated dilapidation
• Graffiti
• Youth loitering

• Gangs
• Young adults neither enrolled in school nor gainfully employed
• Juvenile delinquency

• Crimes against Seniors
• Predatory lending
• Predatory home repair and maintenance services
• The vulnerability of many seniors to these scams

• Police-Community Relations
• Low level of familiarity and trust between police officers and residents
• Poor relationship between police officers and neighborhood youth
• Limited visibility of police officers in problem areas

• Police Resources and Deployment
• Insufficient police officers and resources with which to meet community needs
• Poor response times

• Community Responsibility and Involvement
• Lack of neighbor-to-neighbor communication and dialogue regarding criminal activity
• Lack of open, honest communication with police officers
• Lack of adult supervision and visibility in neighborhoods
• Not enough neighborhood Block Watches and community councils to address neighborhood concerns and propose solutions
• Lack of appreciation on the part of the voting public for the dynamics of alienation and the nurturing of hope and a sense of belonging

• Factors Contributing to Alienation and Youth Crime
• Lack of accessible education and employment options
• Drug addiction
• Negative peer pressure
• Family problems
• Childhood trauma, including witnessed violence, whose symptoms often go unrecognized, and which lead to the “short-circuiting” of rational thought, triggering survival-mode responses in threatening situations—and responses from law enforcement personnel or educators that only reinforce these destructive, self-defeating behaviors

Next Page:Safety:Policies & Strategies