Crime task force meets with attorney general’s rep

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — Representatives of the Mahoning Valley Task Force on Crime and Violence Prevention now have a clearer understanding of what the state attorney general’s office is doing for cities such as Youngstown.

Jim Johnston, regional public affairs and outreach director for the Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, spoke with members of the task force at a meeting Friday. He spoke on law enforcement, offender recidivism and vacant-property issues.

Johnston said support of law enforcement continues to be a top priority for the attorney general. To that end, he said, the attorney general’s office has released more than $2 million in funds to support the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

Johnston said an additional $3.6 million will be released in September to support the D.A.R.E. program across the state. The deadline to apply for those funds is later this month.

The funding will pay half the salary of an officer trained to be a D.A.R.E. officer or school-resource officer. Any department using the money must have officers specially trained in the program.

Johnston said many departments, including several in the Mahoning Valley, have applied for D.A.R.E. funding, but Youngstown does not have any officers in the D.A.R.E. program.

He said getting an officer in the program would be nice, but he understands the department is facing layoffs and the need for more patrols elsewhere. Still, the attorney general’s office would like to see the program in operation here.

“Finding the funding to provide them with funds for officers to do some drug-prevention work remains a priority for us,” he said.

Johnston also touched on another concern that is said to be a growing concern for Youngstown and many other cities across the state — vacant and abandoned properties.

Johnston said abandoned properties often attract criminal activity such as vandalism. He said the attorney general’s office has formed a subcommittee addressing the vacancies and reducing criminal activity around those properties.

Johnston said it would be ideal for courts across the state to adopt foreclosure mediation in time to prevent various properties from going into foreclosure.

What made up a good part of Johnston’s discussion with the task force centered on felony recidivism rates. He used an example of a drug dealer who cannot find a job because of felony convictions and is excluded from various help programs because of past convictions. That individual, he said, may feel a return to drug sales is the only means of making money.

“The felony recidivism rate is on the rise in the state of Ohio. This is an issue only made more evident by the fact that there are absolutely no jobs available when you get out of prison,” he said. “This is a serious issue and one we really hope to address.”

Johnston said the attorney general’s office would like to see alternative sentencing in the courts and training from various support groups to address the recidivism rate.