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NEWS > BUSINESS > DETROIT IGNORING CRIMES IN EFFORT TO IMPROVE ECONOMY
DETROIT IGNORING CRIMES IN EFFORT TO IMPROVE ECONOMY
October 3 2009
Detroit, MI – The city of Detroit has long been regarded as one of the crime capitals of the United States. With an infrastructure that has been decaying for decades and fifteen per cent unemployment it is perhaps not surprising that the Motor City has 
garnered that reputation. Unable to refashion itself like its industrial sister city Pittsburgh, Detroit has continued to languish in recent years and crime has begun to take over and dominate to one time production heart of the country.
The situation in the city has become so dire in recent months that many, even the police, have more or less given up on fighting the crime plaguing the city. The new indifference to the crime plaguing the city is being led by police Warren Evans who claims that budget limitations have forced the department to concentrate on serious crimes and allowing small infractions to simply pass. That attitude has led to a massive
increase in crime across the city which has placed it amongst the tops in various categories across the country. For the Chief the increase in crime and the decline in enforcement is just one more way the city can once again rise the top.
“Everyone knows Detroit has been ravaged by crime for a long time, or at least think they know, but that has been largely an illusion. There are so few people living in the city that there aren’t a whole lot of people to commit crimes or become victims. Many of the crimes conducted in the city are done by outsiders,” said Chief Evans. “The truth is our budget limitations require that we need to make choices when it comes to preventing crime and we simply need to allow some things to go on without interference. Simply put we didn’t become the Murder Capital of America by going out and stopping criminals.”
Detroit has long battled for the top spot in the country, principally with Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington and last year surpassed all of them to record highs, indicating that crime is indeed returning to the downtown core.
“With the problems that have been plaguing the automobile industry this is really a bright spot for the city. What it means is that people are starting to live in the downtown area rather than the suburbs and that is bringing life back into the city. There isn’t a person from this area that doesn’t weep at the sight of all those abandoned buildings dotting the city,” said Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. “True some of the people are returning in order to murder people or commit other crimes but the net result is the net result. It has been a driving principle of my administration to bring people back into the city and if that means cutting back on a budget here and there then that’s what it means. Though it does make things a little difficult in the short term, the long term benefits more than make it worth the effort.”
The budget cutbacks have also encouraged early retirements throughout the police force, putting many weapons-trained people back into the city.
“Many cities underestimate the intrinsic value of crime and seek to stamp it out which has limited the growth of the industry across the country. In the early days of crime prevention in the U.S. criminals and police worked together to build the great cities of the nation including Detroit. Now though the aggressive tactics employed by police agencies that has more or less been eroded,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “Detroit could well be a model for a new vision in respect to crime and how it relates to the economy. At the very least titles like the murder capital of the United States will bring a lot of criminals into the city.”
Other crimes not considered areas for economic growth such as rape and child molestation are still being actively pursued by Detroit police.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > DETROIT IGNORING CRIMES IN EFFORT TO IMPROVE ECONOMY
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