Detroit Residents Battle Crime on Their Own as Police Force Shrinks
Residents in Detroit, Michigan, are organizing community patrols to deal with increasing crime. The city has drastically downsized its police force over the years because of extensive financial difficulties. It takes police anywhere from 31 to 115 minutes to reach a location after being called—whether the call is top-priority or routine.
James Jackson was a policeman for the Detroit Police Department for more than 30 years. He planned to live the rest of his life in a peaceful environment, but the city’s economic and crime problems have scuttled that hope. Increasing crime has led to increasing calls from his neighbors asking for his help. This has prompted James to start up community patrols. However, several days ago he got injured trying to stop a crime.
[SOUNDBITE: James Jackson, retired Detroit policeman]
“They promised us when they closed our police station that it was going to get better because they were going to take two stations and combine them and make one. But it didn’t work out like that. It wound up that we didn’t get any more police officers—we got less, and crime got worse. So seeing that crime was getting worse, I got involved with trying to do community patrols, trying to help out.”
In recent years, the government has cut an estimated 40 percent of its police force. Roughly one in five houses in Detroit is abandoned, which has provided approximately 78,000 possible havens for criminals.
[SOUNDBITE: James Jackson, retired Detroit policeman]
“We patrol around. Later on we got started to use our video cameras. Using the video camera to videotape criminals when they’re doing what they do. … And when you videotape them, we take the video and turn it over to the police. As it turns out, the video is stronger than a gun. They are really afraid of having their picture taken.”
Besides routine patrols, James also teaches residents how to protect themselves against crime. His efforts have improved the security situation of his community. However, not all Detroit residents have a James Jackson.
[SOUNDBITE: Detroit resident, name not given]
“I see abandoned houses on my block, they just go in and take it. We call the police; they never showed up. I don’t know—that’s all in a nutshell. It’s just a terrible situation, and we’re making worldwide news.”
Once ranked among the top five American metropolises, Detroit became the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy on July 18. The city government was unable to repay its debt of more than $18 billion.
The decline in the automobile industry along with the 2008 financial crisis have taken Detroit’s finances from bad to worse. Over a million residents have left the city. The population has dropped from 1.8 million several years ago to the present 700,000. Many skyscrapers, factories and houses have been abandoned.
Crime statistics from 2012 listed 411 murders and 16,000 household robberies. That means an average of 44 crimes occurred every day in Detroit last year.
Detroit’s bankruptcy and rising crime rate foretell an ominous future for other American cities. To understand what is coming, read “Detroit Bankruptcy: Nothing to See Here, Move Along.”
