SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — The cities of Cleveland and Shaker Heights will increase policing on their borders under a new security agreement.

The lettersigned last week, came as a surprise to some Cleveland council members who say they’ve wanted it for years.

Shaker Heights is bordered by Cleveland on two sides.

But the two communities intertwine.

“Crime isn’t really like it used to be, it’s getting better,” said Gerald Faraley, a Shaker Heights resident.

All of Shaker Square is in Cleveland. However, the homes surrounding it are in the Shaker Heights school district.

The Larchmere neighborhood is 80% in Cleveland and the remaining 20% ​​in Shaker Heights.

“Currently we patrol and enforce our own parts of the area, but we realize we could be much more effective working together rather than separately,” Shaker Heights Mayor David Weiss said.

Concrete example: last July in Larchmere.

Dashcam video from Shaker Heights shows its officers driving through Cleveland to help.

News 5 Investigators showed you how a teen party got out of control after what started in an Airbnb spilled out onto the street. A restaurant was invaded.

“There was a bunch of condoms, bottles of wine, the whole table was like tipped on its side, the paintings were down,” Aayush Jain said.

The teen party spills over into the streets of Cleveland’s Larchmere neighborhood:

Party at short-term rental spills onto street, shuts down Larchmere businesses

Cleveland Council President Blaine Griffin shared his cell phone video from that night.

Griffin found out when he said residents called him to complain when Cleveland police didn’t respond.

He called police in Cleveland and Shaker Heights.

“That’s one of the things that has led to continued calls for this project, but those conversations have been going on for years,” Griffin said.

However, Griffin says he heard about this new police collaboration via email.

“We didn’t know anything about it,” Griffin said.

Griffin says he’s glad it’s happening, though, and wants to ensure fair policing.

“I just want to make sure that we have good, justifiable policing, that everyone is playing by the same rules, and that we’re not having our citizens profiled in any way.” Griffin said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the two police services will continue to assist each other. They will also share crime reports, CCTV and crime data.

“Patrolling the borders, sharing data and information by working together on investigations,” Weiss said. “I think it will be a good idea because Shaker and Cleveland are very close to each other and the security in Cleveland is good but Shaker’s security is better. I think a collaboration will be good,” Faraley said.

Griffin says he will measure the results.

“I want to see this happen in Lakewood. I want to see this happen in Warrensville, in Maple Heights. I want to see this happen on the Euclid border, on the Parma border with Cleveland,” Griffin said.

“This type of resource sharing could easily be a model,” Weiss said.

A spokesperson for the city of Cleveland sent us this statement:

Last spring, the Cleveland City Council introduced legislation to regulate short-term rentals.

Griffin says the project is still in progress and plans to have it passed before the end of the year.