COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus Division of Police is seeing a drastic drop in violent crime in a neighborhood that once had one of the highest crime rates in the city.
Columbus Police say the Wedgewood Village Apartments on the far west side has seen a drop in violent crimes. Columbus Police Detective Eric Clouse said he’s worked in the Wedgewood area of the city for twenty years. He said violent crime is down about 40 percent at Wedgewood since the formation of the Wedgewood Enforcement Team about a year and a half ago.
“It was the most violent area in the entire city by far. It wasn't even close," Clouse said.
Clouse said crime has been a problem at Wedgewood for many years.
“There's a big immigrant population here in Wedgewood, and they started to emulate the American gangs. We started to see this rise in these young people that are kind of taking on a street gang kind of identity. We started to see them basically control this whole area," Clouse said. "If you weren't part of this gang, you couldn't exist. You couldn't live comfortably in this area. You have to kind of either join them or suffer the consequences.”
He said they knew something had to be done to stop the crime and help the innocent people who live in the area. Detective Clouse described how they really started to pick up their enforcement efforts in 2021.
Tiny-home development gives homless own communityHe said they officially formed the Wedgewood enforcement team about a year and a half ago and that's when they started to see big changes.
“We're not seeing this many shotspotter as we're seeing a drastic dip in the violent crime in Wedgewood. So homicides are definitely down,” Clouse said.
Clouse explained the Wedgewood enforcement team has arrested and indicted more than 30 gang members. He said they have a 100 percent conviction rate for those who have already gone to trial. He said since forming the team, felonious assaults are down by around 43 percent and robberies are down by about 67 percent.
According to Clouse, there were no homicides at Wedgewood in 2024.
“We knew we had to help them because that's the people that are silent out here that don't have a voice. Ever since we've really started to decrease this crime, things have changed a lot to where they actually can come out of their houses. They can hang outside for a change and feel safe,” Clouse said.
Zerqa Abid is the founder of the non-profit MY Project USA in the Hilltop. She has made it her mission for many years to improve safety in the Hilltop and Wedgewood neighborhoods. Abid works with many kids who live in the Wedgewood neighborhood.
“I would park my car in the front of the office rental office parking lot. My youth at that time didn't want me to come because they were afraid of my life,” Abid said.
She said the kids she worked with have been traumatized by the violence they have witnessed.
"MY Project USA has said it in the past and I would say over and over that we have transformed this community from being a gang kind of, you know, gang-ridden or crime-ridden community to a normal sports-loving community,” Abid said.
She said the culture has changed but she is still cautious because threats still do exist at Wedgewood and there is still much work to be done. However, Abid said she has seen a difference in the mental state of her kids.
“The confidence of the community has gone up. The activities in the community have gone up. I think that's the major change in the community that they can live in and they don't have to be ashamed,” Abid said.
MY Project USA runs the soccer program, Hilltop Tigers and the young team has won several championships. Abid says she is advocating to build a safe recreation space for the kids at Wedgewood. She is still working on gathering funding for the project.
Detective Clouse said this is just the beginning of their work at Wedgewood.
“We're just hoping that now that we get some of these violent offenders out of here now, now the city can come in more and do more of their outreach and things like that, because you couldn't do that before you had to get rid of this violent element,” Clouse said.
Detective Clouse said as the weather gets warmer there will be more CPD officers there on foot working with the intelligence portion.
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