CLEVELAND — Shane Bartek was a Cleveland police officer who was shot and killed in an attempted carjacking on Dec. 31, 2021, while off duty. On Saturday afternoon, he was honored by having a street renamed after him.
Johnny Johnson, the Commander of Cleveland Police’s 5th District, described how people felt about Bartek.
“He was special in that he literally had a heart of gold,” Johnson said.
The new street sign is located near the 5th District’s office, to make it easier for his colleagues to see. Johnson said that they want to continue his legacy.
“A lot of officers use this street to come to work. So even officers that aren’t officers today are going to be able to look at that sign and ask the question of who is Shane Bartek and the officers that are here will be able to keep his story going,” he said.
The sign will honor Bartek, the officers he worked with, as well as Bartek’s family. Johnson said that they never want to forget Bartek.
“When we lose an officer, we promise to never forget,” he said.
Johnson hopes that this sign will remind people of who Bartek was, but also remind people to get to know the officers in their community.
“People will look at this sign and see that we’re honoring an officer and just take the time to at least just have a conversation with an officer that has nothing to do with crime or anything else and they’ll see that we’re just people,” he said.
The sign was placed on Utopia Ave. near the intersection at East 152nd.
