Oct. 23: Committee of the Whole, Cleveland City Council
Covered by Documenter Chanel Wiley (notes)
Department of Public Safety’s goal is to ‘preserve a safe city for those who live, work and play in Cleveland’
Cleveland City Council members – led by Safety Chair Michael Polensek – met to review operations and staffing levels of the Department of Public Safety in preparation for next year’s budget process. The Department of Public Safety is led by Director Wayne Drummond and includes divisions related to police, fire, emergency services and more.
The public safety department’s goal is to “preserve a safe city for those who live, work and play in Cleveland,” Drummond told council members. The department’s administrative branch had 30 full-time staff as of Sept. 30. It aims to have 37 staff members in 2025.
Drummond said administration priorities include implementing a drone system for all divisions and rolling out a public safety wellness app for all employees.
Cleveland police still understaffed, even after incentives
One topic officials discussed was the number of vacancies for Cleveland police officers. Earlier this year, Mayor Justin Bibb cut some of the vacant positions to raise pay in hopes of attracting more officers.
Despite the city’s efforts to recruit more police, the number of officers has remained stagnant. The city began the year with 181 vacant sworn officer positions. It currently has 161 vacancies among budgeted positions. It had 1,189 sworn officers as of Sept. 30.
More than 900 community members trained in CPR
The Division of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) increased its staff, according to EMS Deputy Commissioner Christopher Chapin. The division added 23 paramedics and is currently training two more emergency medical staff. As of Sept. 15, EMS had 11 vacancies among full-time budgeted positions and 293 full-time workers, according to city records obtained by Signal Cleveland.
The division also improved its “fleet status” by adding two new ambulances and one supervisor vehicle.
EMS also expanded its community education by training 900+ people in CPR. It also trained 150+ people in “Stop the Bleed” training, which covers how to control life-threatening bleeding.
Watch the meeting on Cleveland City Council’s YouTube. Part two of the meeting can be found here.
Read the notes from Documenter Chanel Wiley:
