Rose Zitiello is director of the Westown Community Development Corp. and one of the originators of the petition drive to bring back the mini-stations. She says after they were closed in 2005, quality of life issues like barking dogs and loud parties increased in her neighborhood because the officers and residents lost a connection.

“Over time, the officers developed relationships with their residents. They knew who the people were, and people knew who they were. So there was a comfort level there, there was like that community engagement.”

Long-time mini-station advocate, Cleveland Councilwoman Dona Brady, helped start the petition drive. She believes the 90 roving community service officers who replaced the mini-station program could be redeployed to the facilities at no additional cost to the city. The call to reestablish the mini-stations was submitted to city officials and to the U.S. Department of Justice. They are working on an agreement for police department reforms.