Last night a community meeting was held to discuss the City of Toledo’s ongoing efforts to combat gun violence.
Unfortunately, one of the local media outlets that covered the event misrepresented an important fact, and since the misrepresentation threatens the personal safety of City of Toledo employees, we feel it is crucial we set the record straight immediately.
The Save Our Community program is completely separate from the Toledo Police Department. Interrupters never have and never will share information with police. This separation is what allows the interrupters to work at the grassroots level and earn trust in the community.
The intelligence that interrupters obtain comes from the relationships they have built themselves. It doesn’t come from the police, and they don’t share it with the police. Period.
To its credit, the local media outlet corrected its story as soon as it was made aware of its error. However, we felt it was important to issue this statement to protect their safety — and encourage the local media to work with us to better understand the important work they do.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz
Interim Chief Mike Troendle