Detroit Police Department Issues
“My hometown of Detroit has been studied obsessively for years by writers and researchers of all types to gain insight into the Motor City’s decline” (Saunders, 2012). The Detroit Police Department has been one of the biggest issues in the city. From the disconnect between the mayor and the police department, all the way down to the citizen - police officer relationship, the city streets have not been safe for decades. The Detroit Police Department has failed its city due to the lack of resources and communication, as well as the overall negative issues throughout the city.
Detroit was born a city of beautiful architecture and thriving business. Between the auto industry and the music industry, the late 19th century and early to mid- 20th century were years to remember. The decline began when the United Auto Workers was formed. “[They] created a mindset among the workers that the companies they worked for were their enemies” (Watkins, 2012). Workers began to strike, asking for 30 hour work weeks with 40 hours pay, but rather, they got the pension plans that are still in place today. The workmanship of the cars began to decline, sending 20% of our auto industry to Japan, where cars were made with precision, and at a far lower cost (Watkins, 2012).
The issue of race existed openly everywhere until the mid- ‘70s. These issues caused race riots and something known as ‘white flight’. The riots caused by blacks placed fear in whites, pushing them out of the inner city into the suburbs. Detroit gained its first black mayor, Coleman Young, in 1973. He put in place a “strong mayoral system”, which gives the mayor close to full authority of the city (Watkins, 2012). Young was a racist who did his best to push whites out of the city of Detroit. He claimed that all whites were racists, and set a very negative, unforgiving, and unaccepting tone.
With the majority of the white population pushed out of the city, along went the profit. White people became afraid of the city and started coming purely for work. Businesses were forced out of the city and into the suburbs so that they could stay afloat. When jobs became harder to find, citizens who were stuck in the city began to turn to illegal methods of making money, causing more crime in the city. The downward spiral to this day hasn’t been tamed.
The cleanliness has been one of the most obvious declines of Detroit. The city streets aren’t being taken care of by the citizens, or the city for that matter, and neither is the air. This is another one of the many pushing factors of the city. It sets a sense of chaos in the city, making it even harder on the police department. The decline has been slow, but had someone previously, in the government of Detroit, stepped back and taken a look; the decline could have been counteracted.
No one person can take care of these issues, understandably. The issue is, no one has the determination to come together anymore to make a pact to do positive things in Detroit, rather than deteriorating the image even more. The amount of potential it had was amazing, and still is. Where the biggest issue comes in is in the government and the leaders of the police department. There have been many situations throughout the years with government officials and the heads of the department where they have set a tone to criminals throughout the city that they’re too worried about their personal lives to worry about the safety of their citizens.
Previous Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, spent the city’s money to give himself and his loved ones a life of luxury. He set a tone to everyone that the citizens come last. People began to take things into their own hands, making Detroit one of the most dangerous places in the country (Advarneg, 2012). The corruption in local government sent a message to the civil service departments in Detroit that it’s okay to do things like this in places of power.
Detroit has had three Police Chiefs since 2005, now on their fourth. One of them was involved with the scandal with Kilpatrick, thus retiring so she wouldn’t have to deal with accusations publicly. Former Police Chief Warren Evans was asked to step down by Mayor Dave Bing after his intimate relationship with a subordinate was revealed (Burns, 2012). Recently, Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee was caught in an affair with two women of the department and stepped down.
Besides the corruption throughout the city, there is the lack of resources. Officers are only given so much and most of what they have is damaged or close to nonexistent. Not only have the officers not been supplied with what they need, but their salaries have also been cut. The role of a police officer is hard to begin with and these factors just make it harder and harder to protect their city (Doe, 2012).
An officer from the police department drew a picture of the mayor ripping out an officer’s heart. She says that “Bing is just the face of the machine” (Doe, 2012). Dave Bing is the mayor of Detroit and she says the machine because she believes that it’s not just one person causing the issues in the city, and there isn’t just one person who can fix it (Doe, 2012).
Doe drew this picture at a table in the break room because she doesn’t have a desk. She didn’t have a real purpose to drawing it, she was just doodling and it was in pen, where she usually draws in pencil. People were coming in and out of the break room and that’s how she got the idea to draw the mayor ripping an officer’s heart out. Other officers post things on the board in the break room and she figured this was something everyone had a part in so she made a copy of it and posted it. When more people started to see it she said they started to individually interpret it. Everyone had the same basic idea, that the city is gutting the police department, taking all of their resources and leaving them with nothing to defend their citizens with (Doe, 2012).
The picture went viral, making it onto t-shirts at various rallies and even onto a website called “impeachjerryo.com”, a website made by an officer who was fired for stating his opinion on the conditions of the department. Doe was surprised that so many people of the city, even citizens, could relate and interpret the picture.
Another issue that effects the police department is false reports. For example, if someone calls and says that they’ve been robbed and tell a story that could be true, but they’re drug addicts, they might lie and say their prescription pills were stolen when, in all reality, they just wanted someone to write them another prescription. This is not to say that everyone that calls and says that they’ve been robbed are going to do this, but that many of the reports called in are false.
Falsified police reports effect the department tremendously. They take away from the real crime happening in the city. Dispatchers and officers aren’t able to determine what calls are false, though. The report has to be overviewed afterwards and determined false. The suspect then is charged (State of Michigan, 1941). This wastes officer’s time and pulls away from crimes where someone is really being hurt (Doe, 2012).
The state has taken the issue of falsified reports into their own hands, because it’s an issue throughout the whole state of Michigan, not just the city of Detroit. You can be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony in the case of falsified reports. If it is a misdemeanor you can serve up to 93 days in jail or pay $500.00 or both. If you get charged with a felony of a falsified report, you can serve up to 4 years in jail or pay $2000.00 or both (State of Michigan, 1941). This law is starting to be enforced more and more because more false reports are being made.
Something Mayor Dave Bing has set in place is the opening of 13 mini-stations in different neighborhoods throughout the city. They’re hoped to help citizens feel more comfortable reporting crimes and bring the citizens closer with the police department. The mini-stations will hold one full time officer and volunteers who will help take reports and try to comfort victims so that they know its okay to come to the department with any criminal issues (Satyanarayana, 2012).
Another proposal that has been set in place is “Proposal M.” Proposal M is a proposal that was voted on that partially decriminalized marijuana in the city of Detroit. It’s not something that was set in place specifically to improve things for the police department, but indirectly, it will take some focus off of a drug that doesn’t hurt anyone. It took years to get it into voting booths in Detroit, but the first time it was voted on it was passed (Huffpost, 2012).
The city of Detroit has set in place a system to monitor the complaints against officers of the Detroit Police Department. The monitor set in place has to have integrity and an absence of bias so the cases can be properly overviewed, as well as previous correctional experience so he/she knows what they’re looking at. The monitor isn’t allowed to speak on either party specifically unless they’re talking about factual evidence from the case. The monitor has to report to the city every 4 months so the city knows that he/she is properly doing their job. Dave Bing put this system in place with hopes to make sure he has people with integrity and drive to help his city in the best way possible (Bing, 2012).
All of these laws, proposals, and actions have been set in place and put forward to improve certain things throughout the city. They all will help the police department and, slowly but surely, the department will begin to gain more resources. The city will be positively impacted and the crime rates will start to go down. Outsiders will start to hear more positive things about the city and will start to visit, bringing back a bright personality to Detroit, and rejuvenating the police department.
• Burns, Gus. “Alleged Mistress of Detroit Police Chief Godbee Makes Salacious Accusations.” MLive 10-02-2012. www.mlive.com Retrieved on 10-04-2012
• Saunders, Pete. “The Reasons behind Detroit’s Decline.” Urbanophile 02-21-2012. urbanophile.com Retrieved on 10-11-2012
• Watkins, James. “Detroit Michigan.” HubPages 09-05-2012. james-a-watkins.hubpages.com Retrieved on 10-18-2012
• Satyanarayana, Meghan. “Detroit Mayor Dave Bing: 13 Police Mini-Stations to Open.” Freep 12-05-2012. www.freep.com Retrieved on 12-06-2012
• Unknown. “Detroit Marijuana Proposal Results: Pro Partially Decriminalize Pot.” Huffpost 11-07-2012. www.huffingtonpost.com Retrieved on 12-06-2012
• Bing, Dave. “Monitoring and Reporting.” Detroit, Michigan government Unknown. www.detroitmi.gov Retrieved on 12-06-2012
• Unknown. “The Michigan Penal Code (Excerpt).” Michigan Legislative Website 1941. www.legislature.mi.gov Retrieved on 12-06-2012
