CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When a group of Cleveland police officers, state and federal agents geared up to arrest Ashtin Williams as part of an initiative to target violent felons who violated parole after being released from prison, a city police officer spoke up at the last minute: Williams was gunned down just hours earlier.

Authorities say the 27-year-old man's death highlighted the need for a new initiative that aims to reduce violent crime by targeting gang members, suspects with active warrants for violent crimes, and others who have violated parole.

The operation, which launched in April and is dubbed "We-R-CLE 2018," has already netted roughly 300 arrests and led to a reduction in violent crime in Greater Cleveland, authorities said during a news conference Tuesday at the Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood.

Williams, who served nine years in prison for an attempted murder conviction, violated the terms of his parole when he cut off his GPS-monitored ankle bracelet. That landed him on a list of some 500 people in Greater Cleveland who are on parole after serving prison sentences for committing violent crimes, and are now being targeted for arrest or increased inspections at their homes.

Before authorities could arrest him, Williams was gunned down with an AK-47 during an April 27 argument outside a Cleveland liquor store. He had a handgun in his waistband when he was found dead in his car, Cleveland Police Commander Gary Gingell said.

"That's how we know we're on the right track with this operation," Gingell said. "The issue here was gun violence."

Cleveland police, the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Ohio State Highway Patrol and U.S. Marshals are partnering in the operation, which also involved an increased number of inspections at the homes of violent criminals who are still on parole.

The goal is to reduce violent crime in Cleveland. Officials touted the program's early effectiveness by citing a year-over-year drop in homicides in April and May.

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said in those two months, there was a 175 percent increase in arrests that led to gun charges in Cleveland's Fourth and Fifth Districts, on the city's East Side.

Homicides in those districts are down 37 percent this year compared to 2017, Herdman said. Homicides are also down 20 percent across the city, he said.

"This is about more than seizing firearms," Herdman said. "It's about using intelligence-driving policing to reduce the violent crime in Cleveland."

The news conference was held in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood, which was rocked by gang-retaliation shootings in April and May.

The operation came out of a push to address violent crime by Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek, whose ward includes the Collinwood neighborhood. A series of unusually violent crimes happened there in late 2017, including the attempted slaying of a priest by suspected teenage gang members.

Polensek wrote several letters to the city's administration asking for more police patrols and for the Ohio State Highway Patrol to help bolster police presence in the Collinwood neighborhood. Polensek went to U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott, who spearheaded a plan that ultimately blossomed in the "We-R-CLE 2018" operation.

"We're starting to see the effects already," Polensek said. "The people that care about this city are seeing it. And the ones who don't hopefully will come to fear it."

Elliott pulled together partnership with local, state and federal law enforcement officials during a series of meetings in the ensuing months.

"This is what we do normally, but on steroids," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said.

The Adult Parole Authority took a list of 1,100 people who are under post-prison release supervision in the city, Adult Parole Authority Regional Administrator Steve Vukmer said. They weeded out about 600 of them because they were showing up to their court-ordered meetings with parole officers and had no issues.

The rest of the list was sent out to police and federal agents, who dug into their databases and found some that had violated parole, were affiliated with violent street gangs or who have been accused of committing new violent crimes.

They targeted the violent offenders on parole because they are 60 percent more likely to re-offend after being released from prison, Gingell said. They are also subject to home inspections by the Adult Parole Authority, which led authorities to seize several guns.

The U.S. Marshals arrested some 200 people with active warrants, and the State Highway Patrol made 118 arrests. The Adult Parole Authority arrested 23 people for violating parole -- many of whom were arrested with illegal guns.

Cleveland police and federal agents arrested another 30 people as part of an off-shoot initiative called the Repeat and Violent Offender Enforcement initiative that has now become part of the police department's daily operations.

The state patrol increased the number of their troopers in Cleveland, and the DEA traced guns that were seized and linked them to several shootings, officials said.

Among those arrested as part of the targeted efforts was Sean Bolan. Highway Patrol troopers tried to stop the 25-year-old man's car in order to arrest him on May 1. Bolan led troopers on a chase and tried to ram his car into two troopers to escape.

One trooper fired several gunshots at Bolan, missing him, officials said. Bolan was arrested and later charged with felonious assault on a police officer and failing to comply with a police order. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Another arrest during the sweep included John Chapple, 31, who had violated his parole. When officers arrested him on May 10, he had what Gingell called a "cop-killer" gun -- a handgun that fires assault-rifle bullets that could tear through police-issued bulletproof vests. It was one of dozens of guns seized during the operation.

Chapple is charged with possessing a weapon as a felon and has pleaded not guilty in his case.

The DEA has arrested eight drug dealers as part of the sweep. One drug dealer arrested on Friday has sold heroin that's killed "scores" of users in the area, DEA Special Agent in Charge Tim Plancon.

Federal charges are pending against those dealers, Plancon said. Agents are also using information gathered during those investigations to disrupt the flow of drugs from middlemen to street dealers, Plancon said.

Drug agents during the sweep seized $271,000 cash, 10 pounds of heroin, 132 pounds of cocaine, 100 grams of fentanyl, 4 pounds of meth and 1,500 fentanyl pills, Plancon said.

Officials said the first two months of the operation is just the beginning of the targeted enforcement efforts. Elliott likened the operation to a boxing match between law enforcement and violent criminals.

"This is only Round 1, and this is a 12-round fight," Elliott said. "I promise at the end, we and the good citizens of Cleveland will be the ones standing."

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