16 Mile? (Detroit, Livonia, Taylor: job, houses, crime)

[and the]

LMAO. You don't think that a cop's viewpoint would be a bit SKEWED by the job they do? ALL that they see is crime--THEY'RE COPS! It's not like they spend the day seeing the GOOD side, their job takes them to the underbelly of society. Any cop from any city in the world has a skewed viewpoint of reality--they see the cup as half empty, because of where their job takes them everyday!

Not really, since most of them lived in the city and raised their families in the city, I would think they'd have a pretty objective view, having seen the good and the bad. Many of them had been in the city since they were kids. Back when the Detroit Public School system's high schools graduated more than 25%of the kids who started out there.

As a sidebar I was a police officer for almost twenty years and if I had a conversation with your cop friends, our difference on the perception of Detroit would be night and day.

In Detroit???

Remember this one?

DETROIT

Man with unloaded gun killed by victim
May 19, 2007

BY BEN SCHMITT and JACK KRESNAK

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

A robbery and crime spree aided by an unloaded gun came to a halt late Thursday when the gunman met more than his match: a gun with bullets.

Charles Parker Jr., 18, of Detroit was killed when a 53-year-old man pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot the teen, who was armed with an unloaded .22-caliber handgun.

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Detroit police are calling it self-defense.

The botched carjacking on Grand River and Prevost came after a string of robberies in Detroit on Thursday, which police said were committed by Parker and four others, ranging in age from 16 to 20.

The robberies began about 8:40 p.m. Thursday at Kentucky and Curtis when a 16-year-old was robbed of his cell phone, a silver chain and his wallet, by at least two of the suspects, police said.

At 9:30 p.m., the robbers attempted to carjack a couple in the driveway of their home in the 19600 block of Appoline, police said. One pointed the unloaded gun at the couple and pulled the trigger.

The teens fled without the car.

Later, police said, the robbers saw a man at a Detroit car wash and tried to carjack him. The one approached with the unloaded gun and the other wielded a baseball bat, police said.

That's when the man washing his car fired, striking Parker.

Parker's alleged accomplices took him to Sinai-Grace Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Hospital security officers detained the other youths until police arrived. Police spokesman James Tate said a 17-year-old Detroit female, 16-year-old Southfield boy, a 19-year-old Southfield man, and a 20-year-old Detroit man are in custody.

They face arraignment on armed robbery charges today in Detroit's 36th District Court.

After the shooting, police questioned the 53-year-old man and released him, noting that he had a valid concealed weapons permit.

Then they gave him back his gun.

Contact BEN SCHMITT at bcschmitt@freepress.com.

It's not that this stuff doens't happen in the suburbs, it's just that it happens so much less frequently. The last high profile robbery/homcide I recall in Western Wayne, where the perpetrators didn't know the victim, was that multiple homicide at the party store in Garden City.....BUT...the bad guy was from Detroit, was spotted in Detroit, chased in Detroit, and ultimately killed himself as the police were closing in on him, not far from my old house in Detroit....And his girlfriend was arrested there too as the lookout.

Recon, don't you think it would be nice to live in a neighborhood that is considered "safe", and not just "safe compared to the neighborhood 5 blocks south of here?"

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by reconmark

So let me be clear, I don't want to presume that you are saying that because I live in northwest detroit I'm dishonest in some respect.
If you do mean that I'm dishonest because I do live in Detroit, please explain.
As a sidebar I was a police officer for almost twenty years and if I had a conversation with your cop friends, our difference on the perception of Detroit would be night and day.

Hard to explain what we mean on the internet, but Ill hope you understand what I was trying to say. Its no place for an outsider, hows that sound. Those who are in the city choose their own fate

[reconmark]

Originally Posted by BurtsBees

Hard to explain what we mean on the internet, but Ill hope you understand what I was trying to say. Its no place for an outsider, hows that sound. Those who are in the city choose their own fate

understood

[Guardian]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

These crimes are burglaries, rapes, murders, etc. Thats about 202 violent crimes happening per DAY for one city (of what's reported), over 1400 per week and over 6000 per month. That's where it gets its image of not being safe. You can't convince me that outside of the entertainment venue areas that it's "safe" to be in Detroit. If you believe that you are seriously kidding youself and putting yourself in harms way.

Detroit is the second most dangerous city in America and used to number one for years. Arguing that the city is safe to be in (regardless of what color you are) is just plain silly. All the statistics prove otherwise. It's not a safe city. Sure, go ahead and make your way down to a baseball game, hockey game, museum, etc. But get your butt back home before late and don't take wrong turns and leave those entertainment areas. Ending up on the wrong street in that city could put your life at risk.

The city of Detroit is 138.8 sq miles, and its not really fair to make one big, broad generalization about most of it (downtown is only about 1 sq mile). Take, for example, Corktown, located just west of downtown. According to this article:

Crime is relatively low in the neighborhood, says Officer Maria Dorsey, crime analysis officer for the Third Precinct, which includes Corktown.

“It’s about the safest neighborhood in Detroit; there’s very little trouble,” says Dorsey. “I think it’s because it’s an older neighborhood, and neighbors don’t move a lot and they look out for each other. It’s just a very nice area.”

And this article states:

Corktown’s crime rates are among the city’s lowest, Kavanaugh says, and neighbors have a good relationship with the local community relations officers.

The neighborhood has organized a Neighborhood Watch program, which Brunell says is just a formal way of extending what they’ve always done — look out for each other. “If a car alarm goes off around here, people look. Phones start ringing,” he says.

The crime, especially in North Corktown, has lessened over time, too, he says. “Fifteen years ago, this was not a very desirable neighborhood,” he says of his part of North Corktown. “We basically came to the conclusion that we’re not leaving, they are. The troublemakers, the gang-bangers, they’re gone now.”

And the first article talks about how even families are attracted to the neighborhood.

Corktown has drawn families, thanks in part to a solid selection of schools, including two parochial elementaries, Most Holy Trinity and St. Vincent’s. Just north of the neighborhood sits Burton Elementary and Middle School, a magnet school that reserves 20 percent of its desks for Corktown kids. Nearby Owen Elementary is noted for high test scores, as is Pelham Middle, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s alma mater.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by BurtsBees

The good people are leaving, and Detroit is only getting worse.

What you call *good* most people would probably call racist, xenophobes. In that case, Detroit's looking up already!

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

What you call *good* most people would probably call racist, xenophobes. In that case, Detroit's looking up already!

So you're telling me that people who lost their automotive jobs, police jobs, factory jobs, teaching jobs, etc and want to move out of state because there ARE jobs there, that they are racist?

You need to remove some words from your vocabulary until you know how to use them.

[Cato the Elder]

Racist is as racist says. It's not difficult to see from certain posts. And birds of a feather...

Yeah, ALL the people leaving are good and all the people staying are stupid and bad. When will you learn that there are both "good" and "bad" people leaving and staying.

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

Racist is as racist says. It's not difficult to see from certain posts. And birds of a feather...

Yeah, ALL the people leaving are good and all the people staying are stupid and bad. When will you learn that there are both "good" and "bad" people leaving and staying.

When did I say that the people staying are stupid and bad? You're making stuff up for your own arguments sake.

Stupid is as stupid does. Thats not difficult to see from certain posts, either

[Cato the Elder]

Read your own post above, lol. "The good people are leaving, and Detroit is only getting worse."

[and the]

Here's a crime index for the Corktown area:

Crime
The following values are represented as an index, where the value 100 represents the national average.
Crime Risk 333Personal Crime Risk 464Murder Risk 872Rape Risk 419Robbery Risk 375Assault Risk 286Property Crime Risk 258Burglary Risk 258Larceny Risk 103Automotive Theft Risk 507

Crime is relatively low in the neighborhood, says Officer Maria Dorsey, crime analysis officer for the Third Precinct, which includes Corktown.

“It’s about the safest neighborhood in Detroit; there’s very little trouble,” says Dorsey. “I think it’s because it’s an older neighborhood, and neighbors don’t move a lot and they look out for each other. It’s just a very nice area.”

I believe the key word is "relatively". As far as an endorsement, what would you expect a representative of the PD to say? Also....there IS no Third precinct anymore.