The Detroit News posted a story about the number of murders in Detroit and the stats are disturbing.
Once again, it looks as if Detroit will be the Murder Capital. If the city manages to avoid that infamous label, it will definitely fall into the top two or three in terms of death.
Here's the Detroit News' story by Charlie LeDuff and Santiago Esparza
Detroit crime numbers, already among the highest in the nation, are expected to balloon this year as a result of dramatically increasing homicides and chronic underreporting of violence in previous years, said Warren C. Evans, the new chief of police.
The growing homicide rate -- already nearly 20 percent higher in 2009 than even revised totals from last year -- and the disturbing revelation that perhaps as many as 20 percent of violent crimes are not logged by the Detroit Police Department are his top priorities, said Evans, who took command two weeks ago.
"It's the Wild West out there," said Evans in an interview with The Detroit News about the city's violent crime problem.
According to Evans, 216 people had been slain in Detroit this year as of Thursday, putting the city on pace for as many as 450 for the year. Over the same period in 2008, there were 181 homicides and 375 for the year, giving Detroit the highest murder rate in the nation.
As a comparison, New York City had suffered 200 homicides through July 1. New York City has nearly 10 times the population of Detroit and 17 times more police officers.
Evans said he has noticed an unacceptable undercounting of violent crimes in a random sampling of police records.
The problem, Evans said, is an overwhelmed force that does not respond in a timely fashion to emergency calls.
"It usually happens at shift change," Evans said. "Guys come in the afternoon, and there is a backlog of 25 runs. If they don't get to those calls and don't write a report, the crime never gets counted. That's got to change. That's going to change."
As a consequence, citizens should expect to see a spike in crime statistics even if actual crime goes down under his stewardship, said Evans.
Undercounting crime is a chronic problem with the department. Earlier this month, the city changed its 2008 homicide tally from 306 to 375 after a Detroit News investigation showed that the Police Department has systematically undercounted murder for years.
"I do agree that homicides are up and crime reporting is down," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. "I am buoyed by the fact that the numbers are being examined. It is also my earnest hope that they will also take a long hard look at the (homicide) clearance rate as well."
The Rev. Nicholas Hood III, a former city councilman who called for, but never received, a federal investigation into the city's crime statistics in 2000, called the push for an accurate count of crime "a very healthy development."
"For too long, we've pretended that things are better than they really are," said Hood. "The minute we have a true acknowledgement of the problem is the minute we can take appropriate measures to address the problem."
Evans inherited a department that is underfunded and dispirited. He is the city's third chief of police in less than a year and serves Dave Bing, the city's third mayor in less than a year.
What is more, the department has been under federal monitoring since 2003, after a Justice Department investigation documented violations of civil rights through police brutality, detention of homicide witnesses and unsafe holding cells where many prisoners died. A federal judge Friday blasted the department's lack of compliance as "grossly inadequate" and extended monitoring beyond 2011.
Evans unveiled new policies to the Board of Police Commissioners last week.
One of those policies takes effect today: towing the vehicles of unlicensed drivers in high-crime areas. Evans said that at least 3 in 10 murders are committed during a drive-by shooting.
"Because we don't have the beds to put them in, we can't arrest them," Evans said of unlicensed drivers. "They know it's catch-and-release. They know we're not taking them to jail, and we know we're not. But if you take their car, who wants to walk home through a strange neighborhood in the middle of the night? Make it so they can't drive around causing mayhem. It's low-hanging fruit."
Evans said one of his plans to dampen crime is to get more officers on the streets. He wants the department to contract with the Wayne County Jail to handle prisoners, allowing him to close city jails and partially crawl out from federal supervision.
"It would put 90 officers on the street," Evans said. "That is almost a full precinct's strength."
Evans was the Wayne County sheriff when he ran unsuccessfully against Bing earlier this year for mayor. Weeks later, Bing appointed him as Detroit's chief of police, succeeding James Barren.
Detroit being labeled the "Murder City" started a couple decades ago. Other than a few years here and there, Detroit has always ranked No. 1 when it came to killing.
Being the best at murder has destroyed the city's reputation and made Detroit a punchline for many jokes. Cleveland used to be America's punching bag, now the Motor City has taken that spot.
Detroit has a violent image. When one of the local team wins a championship, all the talk shows make jokes about the citizens burning down the city.
Do they ever do that with Los Angeles? Every time the Lakers won the championship from the 1990s until this year, their fans caused more damage in each individual riot than all of the disturbances caused by Detroit fans in all the city's championships combined.
Yet, we are cast as sports thugs who can't control themselves.
Once you are branded, it's nearly impossible to get passed that marking.
BUT, it can be done.
How?
There are many things the city can do to repair its reputation, but the people must do something about the killings.
It can't be tolerated anymore. It seems there is more of a reaction when a teen is killed by a drunk driver than when one is killed by a stray bullet from a gun fight.
We need to get disgusted each time a life is taken by murder; the citizens need to cooperate with police; we need more neighborhood watch programs; we need to educate our kids about the stupity of violence; and we need to change the culture of violence the permeates the city.
I am not one for blaming society when someone goes off kilter and commits murder. But I think one of the reasons Detroit has a high murder rate is a lack of good jobs.
If people are at work, they have less time to sit around and sulk about having no money or purpose. Detroit's unemployment rate of 22% can't be helping. It's true, Detroit had a high murder rate when the economy was good, but even then, Detroit lagged behind the rest of the country when it came to quality jobs.
One of the biggest things we need to do to lower the murder rate is to have more homes with BOTH a mother AND father. I have no idea how to accomplish this but it needs to get done.
I'd list statistics about how children raised by single women were at greater risk of ending up in jail but when Ann Coulter did that in her latest book, she called a "hater of women."
It will be a long trek for Detroit to get away from the "Murder City" tag, but it can be done of everyone takes each killing personally.
Until next time, enjoy Michigan and get concerned for Detroit.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:54 am
I know it seems a lot to ask but it needs to be done. There are some jerky cops but I think most are good at what they do.
July 21st, 2009 at 7:27 am
You said “cooperate with police.” You silly, naive, suburbanite.
–Nick
http://www.RightMichigan.com