Council approves firefighter equipment purchase and accepts Ohio drug-enforcement grant

The Cleveland City Council safety committee on May 14 approved two emergency ordinances: a purchase of replacement firefighter high-rise kits and the acceptance of an Ohio law-enforcement grant to support a regional narcotics task force.

Council took up Ordinance 553-2026, which authorizes the Division of Fire to buy replacement high-rise kits under a one-year contract with two one-year renewal options exercisable by the director of public safety. The director told the committee the purchase is funded through the capital project fund and that the purchase amount is “not to exceed $170,750.” The committee adopted an amendment requiring the director to provide written notice to the clerk when purchases are made through cooperative purchasing.

The committee then considered Ordinance 555-2026, which would allow the director of public safety to apply for and accept a fiscal-year 2025 grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services to support the cartel/gang narcotics and laundering task force (formerly the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force). The director described the grant as intended to reimburse overtime, equipment, supplies and case-related costs; he told the committee the anticipated award is $249,567.92 with a required local cash match of $83,189.33, for a total program budget of $332,757.25.

Sergeant McNeely, the task force supervisor, described staffing and 2025 enforcement results in response to council questions. He said the task force includes four full-time detectives assigned from the Cleveland Division of Police along with more than 30 investigators and analysts from partner agencies across the Northern Ohio region; he read enforcement figures for calendar 2025, including search warrants (98), indictments/arrests (50) and seized quantities and assets. “Search warrants, 98… Marijuana seized 6,684.28 kilos,” Sergeant McNeely read aloud while accounting for drugs, cash and firearms recovered.

Council members sought follow-up detail about how seized funds are distributed among participating agencies and requested the documentary data the director used in his presentation. Without further amendment, the committee approved Ordinance 555-2026 as amended and asked that staff provide the supporting figures cited during the meeting.

The ordinances were approved during the committee's opening business so the body could proceed to the scheduled presentation by the court-appointed monitoring team.