Toledo mayor says most Toledo crime is gang-related

He adds that these gun homicides are very targeted and the average person shouldn’t worry.

TOLEDO, Ohio – “What we see in the city of Toledo is a gang problem.”

This is what Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz says after a series of gun-related crimes.

In a press conference on Wednesday Mayor Kapszukiewicz and the Police Chief of Toledo, George Kral, laid out the plan for the Operation Clean Sweep, an initiative to remove illegal weapons from people who shouldn’t have them.

Here’s How It Will Work: Chief Kral said a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will be in the detective’s office this weekend. Every time a TPD crew or officer makes an arrest Friday through Sunday and an illegal weapon is found, it is taken to the ATF agent for review.

If certain criteria are met, the suspect will be charged with a federal crime.

But Chief Kral says just because they’re doing this operation this weekend doesn’t mean the police don’t do it every other day of the year.

Every Friday, the TPD investigators meet with the federal prosecutors to review every single incoming weapon case. From there they can see where to bring these more serious charges.

The mayor said at the press conference that the number of violent crimes is falling, but the latest figures show that this is not the case.

So why such an urgency to operate a second? Operation Clean Sweep in less than two months?

The mayor kept referring to the 1990s when his current opponent, former mayor Carty Finkbeiner, was mayor. Kapszukiewicz said violent crime is higher than it is today, when the numbers are much lower.

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We requested these numbers from the administration and are still waiting to get them back, but let’s take a look at the data we showed you just last week:

• On Monday, police said the city of Toledo has seen 1,209 shootings since January 1 of this year.
• 174 people were shot dead in these incidents.
• In a comparison between 2020 and 2019, Toledo recorded 57 homicides versus 35 homicides, according to the Toledo Police’s 2020 Annual Report.
• There were also 223 rapes (out of 202) and 2,221 serious bodily harm (out of 1,728).

Mayor Kapszukiewicz describes what you see in Toledo today as a gang problem and says that almost all of the tragedies the city is experiencing this year are gang related.

He adds that these gun homicides are very targeted and the average person shouldn’t worry.

“The average Toledoan who follows the rules and just tries to raise his kids, go to work, pay his bills, take his kid to soccer practice, this citizen is mathematically so unlikely to be a victim of what for it is irresponsible to think differently, “said Mayor Kapszukiewicz.