CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County Council once considered pulling funding for the Community Support Unit – formerly known as the Downtown Safety Patrol – to disband it following deadly crashes. But Sheriff Harold Pretel now wants to expand the team, and council members appear to support the idea.
During budget presentations last week, Pretel said the unit currently has 10 deputies and one sergeant, not enough to provide seven-day coverage. But he hoped to hire up to the 12 deputies and two sergeants already budgeted next year, which would allow him to field two teams that could be deployed across the county as needed.
That would ensure daily coverage and allow overlap if multiple communities request help at the same time, he said. He compared it to the county’s former impact unit, a group of 8-10 deputies that communities previously called upon to help with enforcement, including serving warrants, canvassing neighborhoods or stopping drunk drivers…