YOUNGSTOWN - Police want to give criminals a taste of what they can expect this summer.
Police Chief Rod Foley said the department began a two-day saturation patrol effort Friday that will wrap up tonight. He said extra officers will be on the road throughout the city, and other law enforcement agencies will help out - including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which is sending from 16 to 20 troopers.
Every high-crime area in the city will be targeted.
Officers will serve search warrants at known drug houses and also arrest warrants for people ranging from misdemeanors to felony charges, such as drugs.
''We're going to try and do a little bit of everything,'' Foley said.
Foley said the arrest warrants are not so much a warrant sweep as they are trying to target people with warrants who are known to be troublemakers.
''These are people we have identified as perpetrators of ongoing criminal activity,'' Foley said.
Also helping out will be the FBI, U.S. Marshals and the Adult Parole Authority, the chief said.
The Covelli Centre will be used as a staging area for the patrols, as well as a place officers can write reports when they are finished. Some of those arrested may even be held at the arena temporarily, Foley said.
Foley said having the saturation patrols is part of his strategy for trying to crack down on violent crime during the summer, as well as targeting people who are known to cause violent crime.