CLEVELAND MAYOR FRANK JACKSON EXPECTS CRACKDOWN TO RESULT IN VIOLENCE

"We're going after whoever is likely to carry a gun. Their skin color
does not matter to me. If you got a gun, we're coming to get you."

Mayor admits violence will get worse before it gets better; critics
worry racial strife could flare up if black youths are targeted by sweeps

Mayor Frank Jackson doesn't want to see more deadly car chases and
shootouts between cops and suspects, but under his new police plan,
he expects them.

Jackson told the police this week to be more aggressive in targeting
gun-toting drug dealers. He has said repeatedly that he expects there
to be violent, perhaps deadly, run-ins between police and criminals.

"This is not a game," Jackson said Wednesday. "People are killing
each other. We expect more confrontations."

At least one local defense lawyer worries that the cornerstone of
Jackson's plan -- pairing police with federal agents to seek out and
confront criminals carrying guns -- will result in police
indiscriminately going after young black men.

"What troubled me is the idea that police officers can tell who is
concealing a weapon," said defense attorney Terry Gilbert, who has
sued several police officers over the years, claiming they violated
people's civil rights.

"It usually centers on African-American youths congregating on street
corners," Gilbert said. "You can't just go up to people and shake them down."

Two councilmen applauded the plan, but warned that Jackson has much
work to do in selling it to the black community. Councilman Kevin
Conwell said the relationship between some black residents and the
police has become adversarial.

"They see them just like a military force," said Conwell, who leads
council's Public Safety Committee. "If you bring in a military force,
you better have a relationship with the community."

Councilman Zack Reed said Jackson has to convince the community that
the crackdown will make their streets safer.

"He needs the pastors, the Baptist ministers, the NAACP," Reed said.

"He knows this plan will lead to confrontations and could lead to
fatalities, either on the police side or the criminal side. He has to
tell them that doing this plan will make our communities and streets safer."

Jackson officially announced his plan at a City Hall news conference Wednesday.

It comes as the city's homicide total hit a 13-year high last year.

Undercover police and federal agents will do nearly daily stings,
observing people in high-crime areas.

If they suspect the people are carrying guns, the undercover officers
will call in patrol officers who will approach the suspects and ask
if they are carrying weapons.

Jackson and Police Chief Michael McGrath acknowledged that most of
these operations will occur on the predominantly black East Side, but
denied suggestions that the gun stings will result in racial
profiling. Certain areas will be targeted based on crime statistics.

"We're going after whoever is likely to carry a gun," Jackson said.

"Their skin color does not matter to me. If you got a gun, we're
coming to get you."

McGrath said: "The gun-interdiction units have nothing to do with
profiling or the color of people's skins.

It's based on training and the characteristics of people carrying guns."

Police assigned to the gun-interdiction teams have undergone hours of
training from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives. ATF Special Agent Jeff Stirling said the program and
training have been around for more than a decade.

"We train local guys and focus on the characteristics of people
carrying handguns," he said. "There's nothing magical about doing
this. It's all common sense."

Stirling declined to explain what characteristics police look for,
but officers who have undergone the training said they focus on
characteristics such as the way people move with a gun tucked in
their waistbands or coats.

Felons caught carrying guns could be prosecuted in federal court,
which typically results in longer prison sentences. But the goal,
Jackson said, is not just to arrest and jail people. He hopes the
program will convince people not to carry guns. The prevalence of
guns leads to impulsive shootings over turf and perceived slights, he said.

Jackson said his expectation of more violence is rooted in recent lessons.

In May, he ordered police to get more aggressive in Slavic Village.

His directive came after a fatal shooting and the beating death of an
elderly man.

Police beefed up patrols in the neighborhood and three men died in
three days. Police shot a 23-year-old man after a traffic stop.

Officers said the man reached for a handgun.

The next day, a 45-year-old man was killed after a man fleeing police
plowed into his car.

The following day, a 22-year-old man speeding away from police
crashed into a telephone pole and died.

After these deaths, there was no uproar in the community or protests
against police. Neighbors said crime was out of control and police
were doing their best to stop it. That was in contrast to 2002, when
six fatal police shootings led to protests.

Jackson and McGrath said police quietly began gun sweeps last year
and it has not hurt the relationship between officers and residents.
Officers conducted about 150 sweeps, arresting 225 people and seizing 122 guns.

The department did not get any complaints about racial profiling
during those sweeps, McGrath said. Instead, residents applauded them
and asked for the sweeps to continue.