To better coordinate the city’s internal resources with outside community groups focused on crime reduction, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz announced Tuesday the creation of “the mayor’s office of neighborhood safety and engagement.”
The new office is responsible for coordinating efforts to reduce crime, Mr. Kapszukiewicz said at a news conference from his office at One Government Center. He also named Malcolm Cunningham director of the new program, which he says will help to “formalize” crime reduction work under a department of city government.
“Most if not all of the things that we have associated with this work now fall under this office and fall under Malcolm in particular,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said. “If things have seemed a little scattered or disconnected in the past, I think that is the nature of creating something new. This formalizes it and creates a clear chain of command and structure.”
Internally, Mr. Cunningham could work on situations dealing with property code enforcement, the land bank, or the police department. Externally, he will work with mental health organizations, churches, social service agencies, and more to promote community engagement, the mayor said.
Mr. Cunningham’s annual salary with benefits will be $162,508.
While not approved yet, Cities United will provide technical assistance to accessing resources and work closely with Mr. Cunningham. The city could appropriate $180,000 in federal relief funds to enter into a contract with Cities United to develop a comprehensive crime-reduction plan. The contract agreement is expected to be considered by City Council at its May 30 meeting.
“This announcement comes at an important time, and I would say it is an exciting time for the city of Toledo,” Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.
He noted that all data, with the exception of auto thefts, indicate that crime in the city is decreasing.
“We’re not responding to a negative trend but, frankly, trying to build upon a positive trend,” he said.
Police chief Michael Troendle also voiced his support for the new program, which he says can “bridge the gap” with the community in areas where the police might fall short.
“Anytime we can get someone to engage our community, I am on board,” Chief Troendle said. “Together we can make vast improvements in our relations with the city.”
Mr. Cunningham will oversee the Save Our Community program, which was created in 2021 to help the city combat crime. The violence interrupter program falls under that initiative, which means it will now report to Mr. Cunningham.
In addition, the city received a $1.06 million state subgrant through the 2022 federal relief funding program, which will be used to expand the violence interrupters to Waite, Scott, and Woodward high schools and the Maritime Academy of Toledo. Acceptance of the grant funding will also be presented at Tuesday’s agenda review.
Mr. Cunningham is excited to “wake up every day and focus on this work,” he said after the news conference. He has already jumped into the role, noting that the beginning stage of an action table has been established through his new office, and he plans to begin working with stakeholders to get them “aligned with a shared purpose.”
“It’s convening the appropriate stakeholders to get us moving in the right direction — it’s strategic planning, it’s capacity building, it’s building up the skill set of the interrupters,” he said of his job. “When it comes down to it, the core things that we are hoping to reduce are the number of shootings. The ultimate outcome is reducing those numbers, and there are process steps that get you there.”
Before joining city government, Mr. Cunningham was the manager of health outcomes and manager of Ebeid Neighborhood Promise with ProMedica Health Systems. He also served as program coordinator with the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and as a youth programming and special projects coordinator with the Zepf Center.
For three years, beginning in 2008, he also was a health and community development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Rwamagana, Rwanda.
Mr. Cunningham has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ohio State University and is pursuing a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
He belongs to multiple community organizations that, along with his work experience, makes him a perfect candidate for the job, Councilman Tiffany Whitman Preston said after the news conference.
“This work will help us to organize our bureaucracy,” she said. “You have these loose affiliated programs and initiatives that are necessary to address violence, and this is just bringing them together under one umbrella.”
Council is to be presented with the request at the May 30 meeting to reallocate funds from a vacant safety administrator position to pay Mr. Cunningham’s salary for the remainder of this year, Deputy Mayor Abby Arnold said after the news conference.
First Published May 23, 2023, 6:15 p.m.
