Just the other day i decided to take the rapid downtown and go ride my bike and check out the new skatepark .  Anyways after sessioning the park i decided to go find some obstacles out on the streets , so i was taking a break right at public square and not even 10 min after i was there i was approced by several people tryin to sell me everything from Bud to Blow , now i may smoke a jay here and there but these dudes were just smoking blunts right in the open , a few people waiting for a bus were so disgusted they just left , Maybe i see things different since im a 19 yr old kid but let me tell you this if  if i can go down there and get crack , Heroin , or Bud so can anyone else , Im just sick of gettin hassled by these dudes when im tryin to just get away from all the b.s and just ride

Just the other day i decided to take the rapid downtown and go ride my bike and check out the new skatepark .  Anyways after sessioning the park i decided to go find some obstacles out on the streets , so i was taking a break right at public square and not even 10 min after i was there i was approced by several people tryin to sell me everything from Bud to Blow , now i may smoke a jay here and there but these dudes were just smoking blunts right in the open , a few people waiting for a bus were so disgusted they just left , Maybe i see things different since im a 19 yr old kid but let me tell you this if  if i can go down there and get crack , Heroin , or Bud so can anyone else , Im just sick of gettin hassled by these dudes when im tryin to just get away from all the b.s and just ride

 

Did you tell anyone??????????????????????

that is a sad situation that does not help downtown. I am not sure what the community policing situation is. In Ohio City neighborhood groups go on walks (after advising police where and when) and intimidate dealers out of parks...sounds scary but it works. there just isn't the man power to do it more. last Thursday I watched them drive the dealers/buyers off market square (and one pestering me and my friends at the bier Markt), and the following PM at that same time they were not there at all.  I wish they could post numbers (as this is not a 911 situation) of the local police district right there for people to report this crap.

I think its because of the way I dress but I never get approached... to be honest I wouldnt be suprised if some of that shit is undercover ready to bust your ass.  Next time they offer you pure LSD take a picture and let me know.... :)

I think its because of the way I dress but I never get approached... to be honest I wouldnt be suprised if some of that shit is undercover ready to bust your ass.  Next time they offer you pure LSD take a picture and let me know.... :)

 

Thats a good point.  They had a stink like that at South Woodland a few weeks back.  out of the 37 people they picked up.  30 were from Shaker!

There is an undercover drug operation inside Washington Square Park in NYC.. I was approached many times by bad ass "drug dealers" right in the open. Turns out, its a major undercover operation. I wouldn't expect that to be going on in Cleveland, but you never know. Public Square is the centerpoint of Cleveland, it can't be THAT EASY to pull it off. If this is a common occurrance, then more and more people would report it and you'd see the activity move somewhere else once the perimter becomes a "known drug deal hot spot". They may be on a narcotics or undercover drug task force. Those forces hire guys who look like real dealers, some of which used to be real dealers and have experience.

In covering the police beat, I've learned that undercover officers making buys or dealing drugs are very active in known drug areas. But I wouldn't have considered Public Square to be one of them. I'm there often, but have never been approached. I guess I just don't look like the druggie type or something!

I beat my head on the wall saying that in the more denser residential areas, such as Ohio city, Tremont, and the rising numbers in downtown...WE NEED POLICE FOOT/BIKE PATROLS!  It puts the police IN the community and takes them out of their cars.  That kind of presence helps to curb this kind of activity.  I believe this should start soon in the Warehouse District so incidents like last Sat have less of a chance to be repeated.  Ona sidenote...the incident of last Sat could help to be avoided if the bar/club owners get together, stop the college ID nights/and other theme nights...which brings in nothing but trouble, and keep that area safe.  Not only is it an entertainment area, but it is a residential area as well.  Let's not let what killed the flats kill the warehouse area.

I get what you are saying about the flats, but I think we are on the upswing. John Q. Yuppie (nor the rest of us)has not patience for this. Here is something that kills me. Stonebridge (which means me) and other business in the flats are kicking in funds to get extra police patrol in the flats on these sunday/Monday problem nights. Do you think the owners of these clubs ever show up to neighborhood meeting? No.  So we pay for their problems... I suspect this will be short lived though.  Pressure will be on for either club owners to bear the full burden (but can they really given the impact of gang land shootings?), or close these clubs. Other parties are paying for the security now, to protect their assets so to speak,  but I cannot see these clubs surviving in a residentail neighborhood (with many home owners as opposed to renters) 

Yeah, I'd expect an undercover to be in an area where drug purchases would be expected to happen. I wouldn't consider Public Square to be one of those places because, while it is the center of the city, who really goes there? What's there to do?

 

I agree with the increased foot patrols. I never see cops on foot. I don't understand why cities don't more closely mimic NYC's police tactics. They completely saturate a troublesome neighborhood with police until things calm down. I don't get why we can't bring crime in line like they have. They just have better tactics - they are more aggressive.

 

Sidenote: Washington Sq. Park in NYC is so obviously a NARC center. There is a giant NYPD trailer permanently parked in it. Anyone buying drugs there is probably not from NYC.

the downtown communitity bike patrols are a nice addition, but i agree that there seems to be no good reason not to have more bike/foot police patrols.  it is nice having the horses back, but i think these are better for larger events where a towering presences is necessary.

 

as for drugs downtown...what a mess...i'm not surprised at all about public square.  but, the real hotbed on the east side is E.13 between euclid and chester in the back corner of a surface lot at 1900 E13.  all kinds of crazy shit goes down here at all hours, but especially nights and weekends.  these are the same people that then spill downtpwn and ask for money and create other problems.  from this location, it is easy to disappear to central, st clair, downtown or wherever.

e13th chester area is Carter Manor, subsidized housings. most to the folks there are law abiding citizens I am sure, but it does draw some riff raff. I remember when my office was near there, if i made the mistake of passing down 13Th to Euclid, from Chester or vice versa, I would get caught behind people do'in whatever...leaning in to car doing lord knows what. And you were stuck there waiting until they were finished. I am not talking the middle of the night here, but the middle of the day....

e13th chester area is Carter Manor, subsidized housings. most to the folks there are law abiding citizens I am sure, but it does draw some riff raff. I remember when my office was near there, if i made the mistake of passing down 13Th to Euclid, from Chester or vice versa, I would get caught behind people do'in whatever...leaning in to car doing lord knows what. And you were stuck there waiting until they were finished. I am not talking the middle of the night here, but the middle of the day....

 

Oh snap, I take that route to get to my office in the morning! I haven't seen any dealing yet, but I'm usually driving before 8 am.

i dunno... i taken that way many times many different times of day and never seen anything.  in car or on foot.

This is unfortunate.  All the times I've been downtown, no one has ever tried to sell me drugs.  I just get panhandled.  A few weeks back I had jury duty and I would take full advantage of the 90 minute lunches to walk all over downtown from the Flats to E. 12th.  I got panhandled about twice per day, but no offers of recreational pharmaceuticals. 

I beat my head on the wall saying that in the more denser residential areas, such as Ohio city, Tremont, and the rising numbers in downtown...WE NEED POLICE FOOT/BIKE PATROLS!

 

Well, we have the Downtown Cleveland Alliance bike patrol downtown. They started making their rounds in April, and I think are on the streets 18 hours a day. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

I beat my head on the wall saying that in the more denser residential areas, such as Ohio city, Tremont, and the rising numbers in downtown...WE NEED POLICE FOOT/BIKE PATROLS!

 

Well, we have the Downtown Cleveland Alliance bike patrol downtown. They started making their rounds in April, and I think are on the streets 18 hours a day. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

I think that bike patrol is a good thing, but it seems to me you need the actual police to crack down on drug dealers and that sort of thing.

Funding for community policing has been cut drastically and repeatedly throughout the Bush administration's tenure.  There are loads of proponents on both sides of the aisle for more foot and bike patrols and more cops on the street, but the funding keeps getting drawn down.  This has a lot to do with the number of citizens and representatives who are now living in suburban communities where this is not perceived to be a problem.  Hence, another example of the public sector (state and fed) disinvestment in urban areas.  By the way, guess where the majority of this public safety money is being diverted to...wars in other countries that are being labeled as "homeland security."  You'd think that homeland security would start at home, but I guess our leaders just aren't that bright.

 

On the other hand, I think that community led efforts, like Peabody's neighborhood walks and the DCA's ambassadors can and will make a noticeable difference, but only if everyone invests themselves in them.  So, get involved, call your reps, attend a block club meeting, and buy your drugs from Westlake.

Assuming that what has been suggested might be true, I don't like the idea of police officers acting like drug dealers on Public Square, thus acting as a nuisance to innocent patrons (drug dealers are afterall only a nuisance to those who don't want to actually buy drugs) and creating an unfair perception that downtown is unsafe.  If this is narc officers, they should stop.

Assuming that what has been suggested might be true, I don't like the idea of police officers acting like drug dealers on Public Square, thus acting as a nuisance to innocent patrons (drug dealers are afterall only a nuisance to those who don't want to actually buy drugs) and creating an unfair perception that downtown is unsafe.  If this is narc officers, they should stop.

 

That is a really great point. I agree, X.