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Police action very heavy (STRESS) and their actions were in the news constantly, making it appear Detroit was totally lawless, thanks to the decoys.
No, not "thanks to the decoys"....Thanks to the armed robbers. What was wrong with STRESS? From what I've read the only thing wrong with the anti-robbery unit was the fact that they shot too many armed robbers who happened to be black. The unit was also responsible for at least a 20% reduction in armed robberies. Detroit's hold-up men never knew when their next target would be a plainclothes cop with a .44 and more backup around the corner. But, history is what it is, and Detroiters wanted the man who ran on a platform of more armed robberies and fewer armed robbers being shot. Why would a surburbanite have a problem with that?
Most communities get the kind of law enforcement they deserve. Detroit is no different. Vote for a guy like "Big Time Red" and you get what you ask for.
I agree that Richard Austin was the better choice for mayor against Coleman young. But then again, history repeated itself when Detroiters thought Freeman (Helmut) Hendrix was too light-complected to govern as well as the Hip Hop Mayor. Once again, Detroiter's asked for it and got it. Why would suburbanites have a problem with that kind of logic?
I have been to told that even when the City finances demolition of buildings that are beyond resurrection, they sometimes mess it up and demolish the wrong building by mistake. Anyone know how often that actually happens?
I have heard of people "accidentally" demolishing the wrong building.
According to Wiki's article under Detroit's Statler Hotel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Statler_Hotel
During demolition of the Statler Hotel some hot metal fell from the Statler and caught a neighboring building on fire.
Demolishing the wrong building certainly could happen. I would hope not but it's possible.
..."To protect and serve"
...The 'safest' areas of Detroit today are downtown and Wayne State areas. Reason? Strong, visible police presence. Decoys are NOT visible. They will always be needed as well as 'plain clothes' units, but a VISIBLE presence would have been far more effective as a crime deterrent. Rats and mice will quickly evacuate an area when they see a cat nearby. I was not aware of a 20% reduction in armed robberies, can't arue if that's the effect STRESS had. BUT lack of robberies due to police presence would not make the news and cause the city to have a reputation for crime as STRESS did.
...It is not entirely possible to avoid, but I'd prefer to sidestep a race issue.
...Mr. (yes Mr.,he was respected) Austin did not run against CAY. He 'stepped up to the plate' when he thought he was needed in 1969, ran against Roman Gribbs and lost the election.Before the next city election, he was elected statewide as Secretary State. And made quick changes there, improving voting, driver licensing and eliminating those long lines annually when all licence plates expired at same time by changing exp date to birthdates. The bureaucracy was slashed. Detroit's big loss, Michigan's gain. To his credit, he kept his residence in Detroit, near Ewald/Davison/Livernois.
...After all the CAY years, there was too much damage to clean up in short term. Dennis Archer may well have been re-elected over and over, or the job would have killed him young. He was forced to work with the casino groups, anything to bring in some revenue. Shame, too. His background is legal. If allowed to focus on criminal justice he might have made more of a difference. He was a respected Supreme Court justice, and his wife a very stern Recorder's Court judge. (I once testified in her courtroom, was impressed with her demeanor and sentencing)
...Detroit now will elect anyone with a 'known' name regardless of notoriety. As mayor and in City Council. Unless that changes, it's doubtful the city's reputation will improve.
...Nice downtown, sports arenas. OK.... Mid 70's all the 'Welcome to Detroit' signs were changed to add 'renaissance city'. We were to believe a new landmark on the riverfront changed the whole city then, over 30 years ago!
Uniformed police do not deter armed robbers unless you can post one at every target. The reason there is little crime in the downtown area is because that's exactly what they did. Go to Greektown or an ethnic festival during the summer and there are literally cops on every corner, especially on Monroe and on Jefferson. Woodward near the stadium and theaters too. You can not put a cop on every corner where the residents are being robbed, only in the comparatively tiny areas where the "paying customers" are being robbed. STRESS stopped armed robberies by locking up (and yes, killing a few) armed robbers. There are not THAT many armed robbers in the City of Detroit. It's a relatively small "specialty". You take one hold-up man out of business and you stop a LOT of robberies. The people who started STRESS and those who worked it knew this. So did Coleman Young, but it didn't matter to him. STRESS didn't stop the holdups in front of Tiger Stadium or Greektown. STRESS stopped the robberies of residents walking home from the bank or store, liquor store hold-ups, etc. And it worked.
Uniformed police in the numbers they're realistically availiable in, deter speeders. That's about it. You want deterrance for armed robberies? Get the word out that the next man or woman on the street you rob might be an on-duty cop.
Well I need not type much this time then.
...Catch all the armed robbers they can, but they may as well have killed them all, because the courts were freeing them after a brief 'hotel stay'. Like it or not, if the police failed to follow constitutional procedures, then lawyers had an easy case anyways. Detroit was slammed with lawsuits...
...Other cities with a strong uniformed police presence have less crime problems. And I didn't have to live in Detroit long to realize back then only the White color police cars were traffic patrol, (TSU?) the rest were police 'on patrol'.
....I'm sure not going to defend CAY. I was a city resident after I got CJ degree. Had no chance of employment in Detroit and no desire to work with an embittered group of veterans and rookies with accellerated training that qualified only by their ethnic background. Dangerous combination there. I was hired instead as a sheriff's deputy (not Wayne Co.)
...Catch all the armed robbers they can, but they may as well have killed them all, because the courts were freeing them after a brief 'hotel stay'. Like it or not, if the police failed to follow constitutional procedures, then lawyers had an easy case anyways. Detroit was slammed with lawsuits...
With people like Ravitz, Crockett and Del Rio presiding, the police could have (and did in many, if not most cases) done everything right and had their cases thrown out. The recently departed Ravitz used to call police' testimony "inherently incredible". He was a liberal, anti-cop zealot who cared more about making a name for himself as a liberal, anti-cop zealot than he cared about doing his job as an impartial judge.
As far as places with more money having fewer armed robberies, there are many reasons for that. I don't think the main reason is because hold-up men are deterred by visible police. For example, in Oakland County, a hold-up man will do a lot more time than if they're caught in Wayne County due to the judicial system there. Also, most hold-up men you're likely to catch in Deroit would stick out like a sore thumb in many affluent areas. And why waste the gas money to drive out to West Bloomfield when you can take down the liquor store around the block from the crack house? It's not like you're a hold-up man in the first place to pay for college tuition in most cases. Most of them stick to areas they know. For the most part, they're not the brightest bunch of criminals...
With people like Ravitz, Crockett and Del Rio presiding, the police could have (and did in many, if not most cases) done everything right and had their cases thrown out. The recently departed Ravitz used to call police' testimony "inherently incredible". He was a liberal, anti-cop zealot who cared more about making a name for himself as a liberal, anti-cop zealot than he cared about doing his job as an impartial judge.
As far as places with more money having fewer armed robberies, there are many reasons for that. I don't think the main reason is because hold-up men are deterred by visible police. For example, in Oakland County, a hold-up man will do a lot more time than if they're caught in Wayne County due to the judicial system there. Also, most hold-up men you're likely to catch in Deroit would stick out like a sore thumb in many affluent areas. And why waste the gas money to drive out to West Bloomfield when you can take down the liquor store around the block from the crack house? It's not like you're a hold-up man in the first place to pay for college tuition in most cases. Most of them stick to areas they know. For the most part, they're not the brightest bunch of criminals...
...BINGO
...I saw no mention of Ravitz's destructive anti-police actions in the obits, hmmm. The press will miss him. DelRio was discreditited and STILL reelected, any known name notorious or other gets a vote in Detroit.
...In the absence of fear of prosecution as in Detroit, a visible police presence is indeed a deterrant. Reason heavily policed areas and events have low crime. There will always be criminals everywhere. To reduce the criminal tendencies there must be a deterrant visible(police) or (pref.) fear of prosecution. There is little fear of prosecution within Detroit courts' jurisdiction.
...BINGO
...I saw no mention of Ravitz's destructive anti-police actions in the obits, hmmm. The press will miss him. DelRio was discreditited and STILL reelected, any known name notorious or other gets a vote in Detroit.
...In the absence of fear of prosecution as in Detroit, a visible police presence is indeed a deterrant. Reason heavily policed areas and events have low crime. There will always be criminals everywhere. To reduce the criminal tendencies there must be a deterrant visible(police) or (pref.) fear of prosecution. There is little fear of prosecution within Detroit courts' jurisdiction.
Unions have delivered the deathblow to Detroit and the US auto industry.
Unions have become complacent and expectant. They believe they are entitled to high wage jobs but have no resposibility to remain competitive in the global market. The end result? Detroit is left eating the dust of Toyota and Kia and Michigan's tax base is wilting on the vine.
IMO, unions have out-lived their use. They are now similar to a giant, expectant, impotent baby. Waaa, waaa, waaa.
We need to throw this baby out with the bathwater. America can no longer afford these people.
Here's a quote from the April 11, 2006 Detroit Free Press to illustrate my point:
Detroit Free Press
On her 83rd birthday, Lillian Winkel celebrated the same way she spends every day -- going to work at a General Motors Corp. metal stamping plant in Indianapolis.
The great-great grandmother, who is the second-oldest woman working at GM, made $74,000 last year cleaning floors and emptying wastebaskets.
'I always work on my birthday,' said Winkel, who turned 83 on March 2. 'I don't know anybody else who's going to give me three hundred and some-odd dollars for my birthday. Thank God for General Motors.'
No doubt Ms. Winkel is happy to be a GM employee. But my question is who gave Ms. Winkel her birthday gift? GM or the American taxpayer? When all is said and done, I bet Ms. Winkel's birthday card will be signed by the taxpayers, not GM.
Another way of looking at this situation is that fear and racism killed Detroit. In the 1950's one sure way of getting someone to sell their home quickly and at a low price was to warn them that "a colored" was moving into the neighborhood. I'm not saying that this was a conscious movement by real estate developers to sell more property in the suburbs, but, it certainly did work out that way. Rather than live in an integrated neighborhood, most whites fled leaving the city without a tax base.
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Unions Killed Detroit
