Cleveland City Council mull over the future of block parties and security

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The future of small neighborhood block parties in Cleveland may or may not have security or police involved.

Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone spoke about the financial hardships applicants have to face with the current rule.

“No police officer, whether they work for the city of Cleveland or a suburban agency, or the county sheriff, is going to work for less than $25 an hour, and that’s about the going rate,” said Zone.

This is an idea for block parties that have under 100 people.

Parties that exceed that number would still need security.

Councilman Michael Polensek said he wants to make sure that if this ordinance goes through everyone will still be safe.

“That when we have these events that there will be a sense of security and peace, and if we have problems that do put people or police at risk and I want to make sure we have a balance here, a good balance,” he said.

Cleveland Heights, Lakewood and Toledo are just some of the many places that don’t require security at small neighborhood events.

There was no vote taken at the council meeting.

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