After a success in the Lagrange district, the police officers of Toledo target the Five Points district to suppress crime.
TOLEDO, Ohio— Toledo Police are cracking down on crime and targeting another specific neighborhood after declaring a similar operation successful in the Lagrange area.
This time around, the officers show force in the Five Points neighborhood.
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It is targeted because the crime in this neighborhood of Toledo is shocking to those who live there.
“It’s out of control here in Toledo. Every day there’s another shooting. There’s something else going on,” said Brittney Sturgill, a mother of five who lives in the Five Points neighborhood. “I’m a recovering drug addict and it’s hard.”
Take, for example, the Sunday night shooting in the 3800 block of Lockwood Avenue that left two people hospitalized.
This is hard news for Sturgill to hear as she raises her children with this fear.
“We try to raise good kids and it’s definitely harder for us to try to get around everyone,” Sturgill said.
But it gives her hope to know that the Toledo police are stepping up their efforts to get guns and drugs off the streets.
TPD calls its latest initiative Operation FASER, which stands for Five Points Area Safety Enforcement Response.
Theresa Morris, a member of the city council, represents the residents of this district.
“We need to have all the tools in our toolbox to be able to fight crime. Whether it’s violent crime or petty crime,” Morris said. “However, we must have all the tools in our toolbox.”
Targeted enforcement in the Sylvania Corridor resulted in:
- 38 weapons seized
- 8 search warrants executed
- $216,090 in drugs seized
- 590 citations issued
- 9 arrests for impaired driving
- 320 parking tickets issued
- 8 pistol locks distributed
- 101 junk cars towed
But Morris says the work doesn’t stop there.
“Gone are the days when you could just pick someone up and then it was over. These issues have tentacles. It’s like poverty. There’s just a lot of other issues that kind of fold in the onion,” Morris said, “and it’s tough to just be able to approach them with the one-off.”
Sturgill and her kids are hoping more police means a safer neighborhood or they’ll have to decide if it’s time to move.
“I think they should patrol more. They should have a lot more security wherever they have kids,” Sturgill said.
“I’m staying away from it all,” Sturgill’s 14-year-old daughter Savannah Twigg said. “Make sure I don’t get involved at all.”
The effort is part of the city’s Toledo Area Enhancement Method, known as TEAM, intended to improve the quality of life in city neighborhoods.
This is the second such initiative targeted this year, which included Operation LASER in the Lagrange region.
