Cuyahoga Scoreboard
Government Performance & the Local Economy
Cleveland's Public Safety Strategy to Reduce the Cost of Crime Should Start with Hiring More Police Officers
A recent Crain's op-ed on the cost of crime and public safety quantifies the cost of crime in Cleveland and assesses whether hiring more police would reduce the overall cost of crime. The question boils down to whether more police or social programs are the most cost-effective means of reducing crime.
What's new in this article? Nobody has previously tried to estimate the cost of 26,000 crimes in Cleveland. The article estimates that the cost to Cleveland residents is $1.6 billion or $4300 per capita), a huge burden on Cleveland residents,
The article quantifies whether hiring more police would reduce the overall cost of crime to Cleveland residents. The result was that adding 10% more police reduced the cost of crime by 480 incidents and $63 million including the cost of police. Going to full staffing would save even more.
For those who are interested , a PDF with some tables that go more in depth on crime and the calculations. I included the tables to be transparent on the assumptions and to stimulate more thinking and better policies.
A Smaller Economy Permanently?
Metro Cleveland's Employment & Labor Force Rebound Has Stalled 30,000-40,000 Below Pre-Pandemic Levels (May 2023)
Metro Cleveland's employment was 994,700 in May 2023, about 17,200 better than a year ago, but still 31,100 worse than the pre-pandemic level. The labor force increased by 6,700 to 1,034,400 since May 2022 but it remained 48,700 below the pre-pandemic level. Unemployment was 39,700 about 10,500 better than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 3.9%, a point lower a year earlier but the favorable rate is somewhat misleading. The smaller labor force, not strong employment, was a major factor in the low unemployment rate. Overall, Metro Cleveland's economic growth remains weak and below pre-pandemic levels. The smaller employment and labor force levels may represent a permanent contraction of the Metro Cleveland economy.
Economic Overview of Metropolitan Cleveland & Akron
Presented to Educational Service Center NEO Business Advisory Council (Feb 3, 2023)
The presentation is an in-depth look at the impact of Covid on the seven-county Cleveland-Akron metropolitan area for a group of educational administrators. It analyzes long-term economic trends & provides a post-pandemic economic outlook.
2021-22 Average Proficiency Scores for Cuyahoga County Public School Districts Continue to be Discouraging
SUMMARY:The Average 3rd-Grade-High School Proficiency Score for 31 public school districts in Cuyahoga County was 61.6, slightly above Ohio's 57.7. There was significant variance between districts and several large, poor-performing dominated the overall outcome. The 13 districts with average scores below 60 totalled 73,000 students with an estimated 48,400 students below proficiency of 60.
More information on the test results are available in a PDF on the Schools page
A Return to "Normal" Public Schools Is Not Enough
(Crain's Cleveland Business, March 7, 2022)
The 2020-21 school year was dismal for public education in Cuyahoga County as schools were buffeted by the COVID pandemic and social and political currents.
Most parents and the public hoped that schools would return to "normal" for the county's 130,000 public school students this year, but even if COVID disruptions fade in spring, the public schools' "normal" performance fails to prepare many students for the future and handicaps Cuyahoga County's economic growth.
DOWNLOAD & READ THE PDF WITH ADDITIONAL DATA OR READ THE CRAIN'S ARTICLE
What's the Crime Rate in Cuyahoga County?
Based on data from various sources, there were about 40,000 reported crimes in Cuyahoga County in 2020. This includes the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System (OIBRS) estimate of 35,200, plus 4,600 estimated from other sources.
The number of violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault) was about 9,100 (OIBRS-8,500 and Other sources-600) and the number of property crimes (burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) was 30,700. Almost two-thirds of the total crime was in Cleveland, including nearly 80% of violent crimes.
