Crime Strategies Unit to Identify and Prosecute Violent Offenders (2019)

Cuyahoga County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (Cleveland, OH)

Population: 1,235,072 | Number of Full-Time Prosecutors: 225 | Contact Information

In response to high homicide and robbery rates, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO), which handles felony cases for approximately 60 police municipalities has enhanced the capacity of its Crime Strategies Unit.

Through a grant from Innovative Prosecution Solutions (IPS), CCPO and their research partner, the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University, have developed and implemented standardized criteria used to identify the County’s most violent offenders. Information on these offenders is disseminated to a local task force comprised of several local law enforcement agencies and headed by the CCPO, to focus investigative and prosecution efforts on those offenders identified through the criteria as being the most violent offenders. The IPS team has also developed practitioner toolkits and trainings relevant to the successful investigation and prosecution of habitual offenders