Committee approves applying for state grant to fund cartel/gang narcotics task force

The Cleveland Public Safety Committee approved ordinance 565-2025 to authorize the Director of Public Safety to apply for and accept a grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services’ Recovering Ohio Law Enforcement Fund to support the Cartel, Gang, Narcotics and Laundering Task Force.

The ordinance, introduced by Councilmembers Polencic and Griffin and read previously on April 28, 2025, was approved “without objection” during the committee meeting. The ordinance text lists a grant period from 05/01/2025 to 04/30/2026 and shows line-item allocations for personnel, travel, equipment, supplies, other, and confidential funds.

Sherry Hartzong, the presenter at the table for the Department of Public Safety, said the request would “authorize the director of public safety to apply for and accept a grant in the amount of” the award shown in the ordinance. The ordinance text includes allocations described in the meeting as: personnel $51,001.40; travel $5,000; equipment $10,895; supplies $1,000; other $14,320; and confidential funds $30,000. The ordinance also lists a grant award amount and term in the meeting record as $102,216.40 for 05/01/2025–04/30/2026. The sponsor and departmental presenters said the grant has no local matching requirement.

Sergeant McNeely of the Cleveland Division of Police described recent task force activity and the operational role the grant would support. He summarized 2024 statistics: “The task force conducted 72 search warrants, 45 federal arrest indictments, cocaine seizures of 191 pounds, fentanyl pill seizures 21,866 unit doses, fentanyl powder 153 lbs., methamphetamine 45 lbs., marijuana seizures 2,815 lbs., currency proceeds seized $528,532 and 302 firearms.” He also told the committee the grant supports outreach work, including purchasing Narcan kits and participating in a state-provided bridge program to distribute kits as part of outreach in addition to enforcement.

Committee members asked about trends in seizures and overdoses. Sergeant McNeely said volumes vary by operation and year, and described a recent joint operation with the FBI that seized large quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine; he said, “each year it seems there are increased seizures.” The committee was told fatal overdoses in the city have declined from the February 2023 figure of 323 to about 163 in February 2024 (a near 50% decrease), and that January–April this year showed a 39% decrease compared with the same period last year.

Committee members asked for additional historical data on fentanyl and other drug trends; the presenter said data going back nearly 10 years may be available and agreed to provide it on request. The presenters also said four Cleveland Police detectives and one sergeant are assigned to the task force.

Action: Ordinance 565-2025 was approved by the committee as read. The ordinance authorizes the Director of Public Safety to apply for and accept the listed OOCJS grant award for task force operations. No matching funds were reported.

The committee did not set a date for submission in the discussion recorded at the meeting; presenters indicated the grant period would begin May 1, 2025, if awarded.