CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday announced an ongoing partnership targeting repeat violent offenders and crime hotspots in Cleveland.

The violence reduction initiative unites local, state, and federal agencies, including Cleveland police, Cuyahoga County prosecutors, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and the FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service.

“These are data-driven, focused operations where the most violent offenders are the ones who are targeted,” DeWine told reporters. “We’re surging into the areas where people are illegally carrying guns and firing them in the streets and the areas where people are being carjacked.”

Cleveland has recorded 88 homicides so far this year, according to police data. Last year, it had 96 through Nov. 4.

In July 2023, Cleveland Mayor Justin

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