Bing to move police back into Detroit (foreclosed, loan)

[Shinhiryuu]

From my understanding, correct me if I'm wrong, homes in certain areas, Boston-Edison, Indian village(maybe) have to be forclosed and the city will give them the home and fix up money, is any of this wrong? I mean should new home buyers be worried police will snatch up all the best homes or is it strictly forclosed homes?

[Retroit]

Known as Project 14, it is a bold step toward revitalizing Detroit neighborhoods while keeping them safe. Two hundred foreclosed homes in two of the city's neighborhoods, Boston Edison and East English Village, are part of the pilot program.
Officers who move into Detroit can choose a home in one of the neighborhoods and get up to $150 thousand towards the renovations and receive a forgivable loan for most of the down payment.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/detroit-mayor-dave-bind-to-announce-new-residency-plan-for-detroit-police

-----------
I'm wondering: wouldn't it be better to hire more officers instead? It would be nice if more lived in the city, but with the scarcity of resources I think the quantity of officers is more important than their residency.

[MeSoBe]

Wow. If I were an officer I would certainly consider it. Those homes are beautiful but the riff-raff in those areas will hardly care that a few police officers have moved in. I still applaud Bing for trying.

[Shinhiryuu]

i honestly think they should open it to more people, teachers, firefights etc... i went to see a home on boston a week ago, outside was so so, inside was beautiful! 65k

[MidMichguy]

They can't use the money to hire more officers, the money is coming from Federal Neighborhood Stabilization grants. They are talking about potentially opening this up for more neighborhoods and more types of employees. They picked cops and the neighborhoods that need the most immediate help to start with.

As a pilot program I think this is a pretty good idea, and potentially could help keep these neighborhoods stable. A lot of the ideas to improve the program would also dramatically increase the cost, and there's a limit to the amount of federal funding Bing can use for this. If it works well, he might be able to get state or federal funding for an expanded program.

[zthatzmanz28]

What if Bing had Project 15 --- Hire MORE officers and give them the houses? What an incentive for NEW recruits..

[detroitlove]

I think this is a good idea. I mean how would you like living in a city where majority of the people with power live outside of the city? I've always felt personally that if they work in Detroit they should live in Detroit. I'm talking about policeman, firefighters etc. Take it from someone who lives in the city limits, why do you think so many Detroiters don't have respect for them? At the end of the day this could possibly stabilize neighborhoods.