Tagged: Detroit Police

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced a tentative deal has been reached with police unions, as the city tries to head off a threatened state takeover.  

The size of Detroit’s deficit is in dispute, but the city could run out of cash by April. 

A state review team is investigating whether Detroit needs an emergency manager.  That person could set aside union contracts under current state law.  

Bing says the city can fix its own financial problems.  Last week most non-uniformed city unions agreed to take cuts. 

Detroit Police say car break-ins are up in the city’s entertainment district. So they’re trying a new approach to prevent crime: banning street parking in the area.

A lot of people—Detroit Police won’t yet say how many—got their cars towed last weekend as a result of the parking ban.

Police officially issued the ban late on Friday:

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee says the number of serious crimes in Detroit fell last year—but the number of killings climbed.

Preliminary statistics show Detroit recorded 344 homicides in 2011. That’s up about 12 percent from 2010, but roughly in line with the longer-term average.

“We promised that we would reduce violent crime. Are we satisfied with homicide numbers? Absolutely not," Godbee says. "But promises made, promises kept. We’ve delivered on reducing violent crime.”

Godbee credited his officers’ “Herculean efforts” to combat crime as department resources continue to shrink. He says the department is re-organizing to deal with that—including eliminating some desk jobs to put more officers on the streets.

Godbee also notes that Detroit Police have improved outreach and coordination with community, and the DPD is now about 80 percent compliant with a federal consent decree.

The department has been under federal oversight since 2003, for issues related to excessive force and prisoner treatment.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee is reorganizing his department to try and put more officers on the streets.

To do that, Godbee is eliminating some desk positions and moving those officers out on patrol.

That means citizens will now report what police call “non-emergency crimes” to a Telephone Crime Reporting Unit—rather than directly to an officer.

Detroit police say three of four women recently found dead in car trunks had promoted themselves as escorts through a website.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee talked to reporters Monday, a day after the burned bodies of two women were discovered in a trunk on Detroit's east side. On Dec. 19, the bodies of two other women were also found in a car trunk.

Detroit Police say a technology known as “Shot Spotter” would help the department’s battle against gun violence.                                                     

The department wants to use $2.6 million in federal money to pilot the gunshot-sensing technology system.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee says it would be an invaluable tool in locating shots fired, and deploying officers quickly.

But City Council members, who must approve the project, were skeptical. Councilman Gary Brown questions Shot Spotter’s effectiveness—especially since it won’t include video.

“According to the Department of Justice, this is an expensive piece of equipment for…the value that you get out of it,” Brown says.

Brown also suggested the department doesn’t have enough manpower to respond to all detected gunshots.

The Council delayed a vote on the issue until next week.

DETROIT (AP) - A police dive team has found a cannon in the Detroit River near the city's downtown. The cannon was discovered about 200 feet from Cobo Center in July. The police department says the cannon could be more than two centuries old.