Detroit reports highest homicide rate in 20 years

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/detroit-reports-highest-homicide-rate-in-20-years-192557311.html

By Ron Recinto | Yahoo! News – 10 hrs ago

Violent crime in Detroit shadows the landscape like its rows of abandoned buildings, but now the city faces a new precedent, even as gun-related killings decline nationwide: More people were killed here last year than at any time in the past 20 years.

"America has a problem with guns, but the epicenter seems to be here in Detroit," Interim Detroit Police Chief Chester Logan said at a news conference Thursday, as city officials reported 386 criminal homicides in 2012, the highest since 1992.

"As the chief of police in the city of Detroit, I take a certain amount of blame for the spiraling gunplay in the city," he said, "but one of the things you should realize, and everybody here in this room should realize, is that gunplay is a national problem.”

Logan is correct: The United States is in the throes of another cultural self-examination about guns after the horrific deaths of 20 children and six adults at the hands of a 20-year-old gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Other city officials and urban crime experts say the problem is not just guns.

"At least two-thirds of the homicides in Detroit are related to drug sales, disputes between people selling drugs or disputes between people owing people money about drugs," said David Martin, director of the Urban Safety Program at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Martin has researched police reports in all parts of the city to examine crime patterns. He says Detroit's police have to develop more effective methods of dealing with the city's drug economy and its consequences. "And that's very difficult," Martin told Yahoo News.

Detroit reported 411 homicides in 2012, 25 of them deemed "justifiable" by FBI crime reporting standards. Still, the remaining 386 represent 54.6 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to the Detroit Free Press. In 1993 the rate was 57.6 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing also pointed toward community-based causes and, potentially, solutions, but he stopped short of singling out drugs or guns. "The release of annual crime statistics reminds us of the senselessness of crime and violence in our community; the challenges facing our police force; and the need to improve conflict resolution and other anti-crime initiatives," he said in a statement.

Statistically, said Martin, Detroit harbors a range of factors that would contribute to a high homicide rate. The city has a high proportion of young men aged 20-29, he said. That age group accounted for 131 homicide victims and has demographic connections to the drug trade. The number of young men in the city who struggle with dysfunctional families and the high number of vacant homes in Detroit make matters worse.

"Groups of thugs have taken over the neighborhoods, and they can do what they please," Martin said. "It's like the Wild West out there."

Possible solutions addressing the homicide problem could be found in working with that age group, Bing said.

"We've got to wrap our arms as best we can around these young folks and let them know that when they get into these kinds of situation it doesn't necessitate a gun; it doesn't have to necessitate a fight."

The mayor said he would meet with Detroit public school officials to try to engage young people in the city. He also promised more communication with local media in 2013 to address the problem.

Martin said the dramatic increase appears to have motivated city, county, state and federal officials to address Detroit's violent crime problem.

"There is a full-court press going on," he said. "There's probably going to be a revamping of each of their crime-fighting strategies. The magical number of 400 homicides seems to spur action."

The city reported a 2.6 percent overall decrease in major crimes such as aggravated assault, burglary and rape, officials said. But it also experienced year-over-year increases in car thefts and robberies.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Bad_Daddy

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

400 homicides this year and how many of them were committed by registered gun owners? Where's the outrage?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Send them to Vermont and see if the crime rate stays low.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Send them to Vermont and see if the crime rate stays low.

Vermont doesn't have nearly enough Sect. 8 housing.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Send them to Vermont and see if the crime rate stays low.

Better idea. Let ANYone in Michigan carry concealed handguns and see if the crime rate stays high.

[himher 634]

Test for liberals:

America has a problem with _____________, but the epicenter seems to be here in Detroit

A. Man made floods

B. Natural floods

C. Strong roofs

D. NRA members

E. A group of people who glorify and tolerate and allow gangs, drugs, and violence on their streets

Edited January 5, 2013 by himher

[himher 634]

Test for liberals:

The homicide rate in Detroit can be reduced or eliminated by removing the following from the streets:

A. The Hoover Dam

B. NRA members

C. Drug dealers, gang bangers, felons, and repeat criminals

D. Guns owned by innocent people who have never used a firearm in a crime in their life

Test for liberals:

America has a problem with _____________, but the epicenter seems to be here in Detroit

A. Man made floods

B. Natural floods

C. Strong roofs

D. NRA members

E. A group of people who glorify and tolerate and allow gangs, drugs, and violence on their streets

Edited January 5, 2013 by himher

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Better idea. Let ANYone in Michigan carry concealed handguns and see if the crime rate stays high.

It will stay high. They have lots of undesirables.

[himher 634]

Test for Liberals:

A detroit gang-banger is more likely to return to the streets to repeat a crime if:

A. Detroit is washed out by collapse of an upstream dam

B. He is shot and killed by a homeowner

C. He is arrested by the Detroit Police

Edited January 5, 2013 by himher

[Póg mo 1,749]

400 homicides this year and how many of them were committed by registered gun owners? Where's the outrage?

But why aren't registered gun owners able to stop all the homicides? Surely the point of gun ownership(legal or otherwise) is to deter people from resorting to using guns? Also where do illegal guns come from?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Test for liberals:

The homicide rate in Detroit can be reduced or eliminated by removing the following from the streets:

A. The Hoover Dam

B. NRA members

C. Drug dealers, gang bangers, felons, and repeat criminals

D. Guns owned by innocent people who have never used a firearm in a crime in their life

I am going to go with C, since if you remove the criminal element, there is no need to carry guns.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Vermont doesn't have nearly enough Sect. 8 housing.

They need more crack heads, dealers and street gangs too. And a larger percentage of minorities. And slums. And triple deckers in bad parts of town.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

But why aren't registered gun owners able to stop all the homicides? Surely the point of gun ownership(legal or otherwise) is to deter people from resorting to using guns? Also where do illegal guns come from?

I doubt there are many registered gun owners in Detroit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_profile_of_Detroit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Young

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Kilpatrick

http://www.freep.com/article/20121206/NEWS01/312060219/Timeline

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Vermont is 95.5% white, 1.1% black, and 1.6% Hispanic or Latino. Pretty much the opposite of Detroit with slightly less people. But demographics have nothing to do with crime.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/50000.html

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Vermont is 95.5% white, 1.1% black, and 1.6% Hispanic or Latino. Pretty much the opposite of Detroit with slightly less people. But demographics have nothing to do with crime.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/50000.html

I've pointed this out before. I know that being black has nothing to do with it, but poverty and no jobs, plus lack of education affects all races.