CLEVELAND – Cleveland’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood is getting a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to help combat crime.
Cleveland is one of only five cities to receive the full $1 million as part of the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation program and the funds will be disbursed over three years, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.
“This money will allow us to expand a decade-long partnership between law enforcement, community leaders and social-service providers,” said Steven Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “These programs allow us to work together to prevent crime and to help those returning home from prison, instead of simply trying to arrest our way out of the crime problem.”
The Mount Pleasant neighborhood, which runs along Kinsman Avenue between Lee Road and East 93rd Street, has seen several high-profile crimes. In 2009, the bodies of 11 were in and around the Imperial Avenue house of convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell.
This March, the bodies of Jazmine Trotter, 20, and Christine Malone, 45, were discovered just off East 93rd Street. In May, Ashley Leszyeski’s body was found off East 93rd along Anderson Avenue. The most recent murder sparked neighborhood watch training sessions in the Mount Pleasant community.
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Article and Picture Courtesy of WEWS NewsChannel 5
