Cle Mayor Jackson: Homicides have increased due to drugs & easy availability of high powered guns

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http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.TimZaunInterviewsMayorFrankJackson

Tim Zaun interviews Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson

Tim: In a city looking to promote itself in a positive light, via the Cleveland Plus Campaign, how can we rise above national notoriety for poverty and violence?


Mayor Frank Jackson: Frist, you can't deny problems. If we have a problem, then we have a problem. Our problems mirror similar urban centers throughout the United States, particularly in the midwest, where there's an upsurge in firearms crimes. Cleveland trumps many other comparably- sized cities, regarding lower violence statistics.


Violent, Par One crimes in Cleveland, are down by 13% to 15 %, but based on media reports, that's incredible. Homicides, however, have increased. That's directly attributable to several factors, including Organized crime, drugs, and easy availability of high powered guns in the hands of our youth. We continually challenge Ohio's Gun Laws.


Organized crime is buying and selling drugs, guns and sex in certain city neighborhoods. Cleveland interlopers are patronizing these crimes. Organized crime, not unlike legitimate neighborhood businesses, employs neighborhood kids. We need to understand those dynamics.


The City of Cleveland confronts Organized crime in collaboration with the US Attorney General's office, the District Attorney's office, the FBI, the US Marshalls Office and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms (ATF) Agency. Over the last 20 months, we've arrested and indicted approximately 200 people involved in Organized crime, originating from Mexico, Texas, and Chicago. They're supplying drugs and guns to our urban center, and attracting our children. Seventy percent of Cleveland's homicides involve guns. Seventy percent of our crimes with guns involve 15 to 27 year-olds.

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