Matthew Richmond

3 days ago | ideastream.org | Matthew Richmond

Cleveland is cracking down on houses and businesses where police are repeatedly called about criminal activity. Cleveland City Council passed an update to its criminal activity nuisance ordinance during its meeting Monday night, after several hearings in council’s safety committee. The update adds a mandatory $250 fine, expands the activities that can be declared a nuisance and lowers the legal threshold police need to establish that a nuisance activity occurred.

1 week ago | ideastream.org | Matthew Richmond

Three former East Cleveland police officers were sentenced to prison time for crimes committed while on duty, including felonious assault, tampering with evidence and telecommunications fraud. The former officers, Commander Larry McDonald, also known as “PAC-MAN,” Sgt. Anthony Holmes and Det. Ian McInnes were all found guilty following jury trials in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in 2024 and 2025.

2 weeks ago | ideastream.org | Matthew Richmond

At the Cleveland City Council Safety Committee meeting on Wednesday, the room was packed by workers from community violence prevention groups in the city. It was the first time there wasn’t an open seat in the room since I started covering these meetings as a reporter for Ideastream Public Media. I shouldn’t have been surprised. In 2022 and 2023, the federal government distributed close to $200 million nationwide for this kind of work.

3 weeks ago | ideastream.org | Matthew Richmond

Former Cleveland City Councilmember Basheer Jones was sentenced to 28 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of fraud while he held public office. The sentence was handed down Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland. Jones was also sentenced to three years probation. He will self-report to prison at a later date. Jones argued for probation, instead of the government's recommended sentencing range of 33-to-41 months.

4 weeks ago | ideastream.org | Matthew Richmond

Cleveland City Council’s safety committee is hitting the pause button on new legislation cracking down on properties with repeated complaints of criminal activity. There are questions about whether the city is enforcing the law already on the books and whether other city laws get in the way of enforcement, said Safety Committee Chair Michael Polensek during a meeting Wednesday. “We know we have to do something.