User:CameronEng/sandbox

Public Safety
Upon being elected Mayor in 2022, one of Bibb's public policy initiatives has been focusing on reforming the Cleveland Police Department. With the goal of promoting accountability throughout the department, Cleveland voters passed Issue 24, a ballot initiative that created a commission made up of 13 Cleveland community members. The implementation of Issue 24 allows for citizens selected to the commission to make decisions surrounding the department's training, recruitment, and disciplinary action. The commission also takes power away from the city's public safety director and the chief of police while putting it in the hands of Cleveland citizens.

In October, 2023, Mayor Bibb announced a plan for a $10 million Neighborhood Safety Fund in hopes of improving public safety in Cleveland. The plan is brought to help solve the root causes of crime in the city of Cleveland, and Bibb seeks to use the funds to help foster education and mentorship as well. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities across the country, including Cleveland, received funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Bibb is able to use the funding from the ARPA stimulus relief for Cleveland's Neighborhood Safety Fund and must allocate the funds before the end of 2026. Along with his $10 million Neighborhood Safety Fund, Mayor Bibb unveiled a plan to generate a new deal with the city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association. Bibb's office along with the Cleveland police union came to an agreement that lowers officer shifts to 12 hours and offers a pay increase to Cleveland officers. With these changes, the Cleveland Police Department will be in the 75th percentile for officer salary in Ohio. The deal between the city and the police department is a step in Mayor Bibb's plan to increase public safety and generate more recruits to the police force. The deal will go into effect in January of 2023.

In 2023, Mayor Bibb proposed an amendment to Cleveland's city ordinance to help generate more police recruits to the Cleveland Police Department. Declining police personnel in Cleveland has forced Bibb to propose an amendment that would increase the maximum age of potential police recruits. In the past few years the City of Cleveland has lost more than 200 police officers, the proposed amendment would allow individuals to join the police force as recruits at the age of 55 rather than the previous age restriction of 40. Bibb's amendment proposal is another step towards increasing public safety in the greater Cleveland area.