CLEVELAND — City and state leaders are putting extra resources into combatting crime in Cleveland, even enlisting some assistance from a federal agency.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Marshals Service launched Operation 216 to find and arrest the most violent offenders in the Cleveland area

  • So far, more than 130 wanted criminals were arrested since the operation started in August, including more than 20 with homicide warrants

  • The initiative complements Mayor Justin Bibb's RISE (Raising Investment in Safety for Everyone) plan

Mayor Justin Bibb’s multi-part RISE (Raising Investment in Safety for Everyone) plan includes a focus on recruiting police officers and reducing violent crime, with the U.S. Marshals Service answering the call to help.

It takes a bit of work for Dan Riley to gear up for a day on the job.

“Two minutes where I can think about the rest of the day,” he said, while fastening his duty belt.

Riley is a deputy U.S. Marshal, part of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force for the past year.

“Crime has gotten more pervasive in certain areas,” he said. “I don’t know what’s causing it.”

But as a Cleveland native, Riley wants to help stop it.

“I feel like I have more, more of a stake in the local community and more motivation to actually make a difference,” he said.

One mission of the task force is focusing on “hot spots” seeing a spike in violent crimes.

“Homicide suspects, shootings, rapes, armed carjackings,” Riley said. “Those are typically the cases that we would adopt from Cleveland.”

They’re bringing in extra resources to send about double the teams into the field for Operation 216.

“It just seems like people are a little bit more brazen or more bold in committing crimes than they have,” Riley said. “They’re less deterred by the judicial system.”

Since starting in mid-August, the Marshals Service reports more than 130 arrests tied to the operation, so far, for crimes like shootings and assaults, kidnapping, drug trafficking and weapons arrests. More than 20 people with homicide warrants were also put behind bars.

"If one person in this city, one person or one family is impacted by violent crime, that’s too many,” Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said.

Griffin moved to the city more than 30 years ago to raise his own family, but he said he’s seeing a shift in public safety.

“Because the national tone and tenor, it’s been very difficult to get police officers,” he said. “However, that’s no excuse.”

The partnership with the U.S. Marshals is helping supplement local law enforcement. Griffin said city leaders approved spending more than $145 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to improve public safety.

“It’s the people in these neighborhoods, more of us that are doing the right thing,” Griffin said, “living the good life and trying to have a good quality of life, that I fight for everyday.”

And that’s also what Riley and the task force are fighting for.

“I don’t believe you need to be watching over your shoulder every day,” Riley said. “I do believe that most of Cleveland, most of its surrounding suburbs, is safe.”

They’re just trying to help their neighbors feel safer.