Map detailing where shootings are happening in Detroit

[President Sekou]

http://detnews.com/article/20110902/SPECIAL01/110901003

I know many of you, especially back when I posted here frequently, have always wondered where it is that crime is happening in the city and where it is safe to wonder. This map put up this morning by the Detroit News shows by zip code all of the shooting in the city from June 21-August 21 in which 303 people were shot and 52 killed.

Kudos to the Detroit News for finally usefully reporting on crime this year and kudos to the DPD for releasing this information to the public. Just thought I would post this just in case this awesome piece of data got missed here.

[mcsdetroitfriend]

Looks like Corktown and Hamtramk faired well

[Eric_c]

As did the Villages, but Hamtramck won't appear on this map because this is Detroit city only.

[Hamtragedy]

"Because of incomplete information, not all incidents are plotted."

Don't know myself, but do you think 303 people shot in 60 days will be enough?

[Goose]

looks like your genenally safe NOWHERE.......

[Zacha341]

Zip code 48205 seems to be most dense for crime [[29 incidences)! This area borders with Harper Woods, part of the Points and Warren.

[jtf1972]

The only problem I have with this [[other than the obvious of all the shootings themselves) is that it gives the illusion that all you have to do is cross the border into the suburbs and you are in some sort of protective shield, where you are completely safe.

[jerrytimes]

The only problem I have with this [[other than the obvious of all the shootings themselves) is that it gives the illusion that all you have to do is cross the border into the suburbs and you are in some sort of protective shield, where you are completely safe.

You have to agree that you are much more safe in the burbs though.

[ferntruth]

The only problem I have with this [[other than the obvious of all the shootings themselves) is that it gives the illusion that all you have to do is cross the border into the suburbs and you are in some sort of protective shield, where you are completely safe.

Completely safe? no
Safer? yes

[Steve bennet]

Anyone else notice the correlation with the increase of shootings after a bunch of drug raids are conducted? I wonder why that could be.....

[Zacha341]

'Safer' has meaning, and weight however, relative to the need for planning a funeral - or not having to do so. Percentages mean something as well, otherwise ignore that 10% off discount the during the next shopping excursion.

Completely safe? no
Safer? yes

[coracle]

The only problem I have with this [[other than the obvious of all the shootings themselves) is that it gives the illusion that all you have to do is cross the border into the suburbs and you are in some sort of protective shield, where you are completely safe.

It's not an illusion jtf. Based on the figures, I am safer living in the 'burbs than if I was living downtown. I've lived in my city for 35 years and I don't remember a murder happening in it, or in cities local to it. I do have a deep seated concern though that as the flight from the city continues eventually some of the criminals might settle in my area. On the other hand I frequently visit downtown for a show and/or to eat and I have never seen any crime or felt uncomfortable but I know it's happening because I see it reported.

[corktownyuppie]

It's not an illusion jtf. Based on the figures, I am safer living in the 'burbs than if I was living downtown. I've lived in my city for 35 years and I don't remember a murder happening in it, or in cities local to it. I do have a deep seated concern though that as the flight from the city continues eventually some of the criminals might settle in my area.

I'm not a criminology expert, but I think this is worth consideration. Crime is some combination of individual choice + environmental forces at work. I'll let the professors debate that. But here's what I mean...I've seen people litter, run red lights, vandalize, trespass....do all sorts of things in Detroit than they would never do in their home neighborhoods in Grosse Pointe and Troy.

"It doesn't matter, we're in Detroit" is a phrase that comes to mind.

As the "criminals" start to flight out of the city and into the burbs, I'm sure there will be an uptick in policing activity. But the antisocial behavior might be curbed because the suburbs have more cops and resources to fight the unwanted activity. And it's very possible that the same persons who would've been vandalizing windows in the city limits would try to do that same stuff in St. Clair Shores and feel the painful arm of the law come down on them for the first time.

Yeah, I get that it's probably not what you and your community might want to be dealing with. But on the other hand maybe your municipality has the resources to nip this kind of stuff in the bud, before it gets out of hand.

On the other hand I frequently visit downtown for a show and/or to eat and I have never seen any crime or felt uncomfortable but I know it's happening because I see it reported.

You probably are safer in the burbs than downtown, but not by that much. According to the map, there were 3 shootings in 48226 in that time period. All were after 12:30 a.m. 2 of them were between people who were in some kind of argument with each other. When you consider that there are 40,000+ seats at Comerica Park + who knows how many thousands of capacity in the casinos, I'd say downtown is pretty safe. And probably comparable with downtowns across the US.

My old neighborhood and others around it, I'm sorry I can't say the same.

I find it so unfortunate that the very areas suburban tourists are most likely to frequent are also the very safest, and yet the perception that Detroit is a dangerous place is so pervasive. I've lived downtown now for 3 years and have yet to witness any violence firsthand.

Then again, I'm not hanging out at clubs a 1:30 a.m. on a Tuesday doing drug deals.

[Scottathew]

The only problem I have with this [[other than the obvious of all the shootings themselves) is that it gives the illusion that all you have to do is cross the border into the suburbs and you are in some sort of protective shield, where you are completely safe.

But for the most part your statement is true. In the 'burbs we don't have shootings. We don't worry about our safety. When we call 911 we get a fast response.

Two things:

- Folks generally don't shoot each other in the 'burbs
- Police respond when things do happen


Although I do agree that it would be interesting to see the information expanded out to the tri-county area.

Keep in mind that Warren has seen 35 murders in the past decade; averaging to 3.5 a year.

If you multiply that murder rate out to a city the size of Detroit it would be 18 murders per year, a nubmer Detroit can reach in a one-week period.

[HazenPingree]

In addition to the observations about daytime population, I am troubled by the inference that crimes are being perpetrated on strangers. I would wager that the vast majority of these crimes were committed by people who knew their victims. Drug crimes, love triangles, gang warfare, and personal feuds. Living in one of the city's core neighborhoods - let alone coming to Detroit for a baseball game - involves a very low likelihood of coming across such an altercation.

[animatedmartian]

In addition to the observations about daytime population, I am troubled by the inference that crimes are being perpetrated on strangers. I would wager that the vast majority of these crimes were committed by people who knew their victims. Drug crimes, love triangles, gang warfare, and personal feuds. Living in one of the city's core neighborhoods - let alone coming to Detroit for a baseball game - involves a very low likelihood of coming across such an altercation.

I agree with this totally except that some of these altercations take place at huge public events or areas. The annual fireworks downtown or at the riverwalk are where incidents like this have occurred. If the people with the guns are already crazy enough to whip it out when they get in an argument, they aren't really going to care if innocent bystanders get hit.That seems just as bad as criminals who would willingly target strangers.

Of course, I think police presence makes a big difference too. Gunslingers are less willing to go that route if the cops are right around the corner and don't take 45 minutes to show up.

[Lowell]

There is a perspective problem with such presentations which lends itself to dramatic exaggeration. One would think bullets are whizzing past continually everwhere. It looks horrendous, and it is tragic, but size matters. Zoom out and it appears even worse.


Zoom in and it appears different. Also, the downtown situation is exaggerated as it is based on residential population and does not account for huge transient population of daily employees and night time visitors for sports, casinos and other entertainment. Zoom in time and the perspective changes again.


And why does Belle Isle with no shootings fall into the 2-4 per 10K range? Methodology matters.

[milt721]

I have not been able to open this map. Anyone else with the same problem?

[Whitehouse]

All I can say.....


....wow.....

[Autoracks]

Spot Crime

There is a shooting time line on the page
i been ballin a shiny black steel jack hammer
been breakin up rocks for the great highway

[internet_pseudopod]

To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld the shootings are to the north, south, east and west of the city.

[LeannaM]

On one of them a woman and her son were being robbed and the suspect fatally shot the son, who was trying to protect his mother.

Sometimes I wonder if it's possible for people to be so despicable that they just don't have a conscience anymore.

I'm sure stuff like that is not limited to just Detroit, but it's still disgusting.

On a couple of those murders the suspect was killed, but I fear that most of the time the suspects are not even arrested and convicted. Sometimes it's hard to prove who did it.

Most of these shootings seem to be like somebody was just walking down the street or driving down the road and got shot unexpectedly. I'm not sure if they were random or gang hits or what. One man was apparently killed for his car, according to the report.

Most of the shootings seem to happen at night, but quite a few were in broad daylight.

This one surprised me:
"Victim was outside with friends when a 73-year-old man allegedly drove by and fired shots. Gunshot wound to the body; Temporary serious. Police arrested the alleged shooter."

[mwilbert]

Obviously this is way more shootings than I want to see, and makes it pretty clear that there are a large number of people in Detroit who really need to change the way they think about conflict resolution. That being said, I would be pretty interested in more detail about who is getting shot by whom and why.

For instance, the shooting at 6 and Livernois was reported to be a retired cop shooting someone trying to rob the McDonalds at gunpoint. That seems a lot less disturbing than a drive-by shooting of a three-year-old like the one I seem to remember from last week.

[detroitjim]

It's really really sad when the keyadds get shot up!

Unfortunately,we will see a bunch more of this nonsense, when dem folks thats on it ,gets cut off the

dole.

[SWMAP]

It is standard operating procedure for a shooting victim to say he was just walking down the street and someone shot at him out if the ble- but, of course that is nearly never true. I have friend who is a trauma doctor in a Detroit emergency room and when he asks shooting victims what happened they often say that. It's like a joke to hospital personnel. And don't you think it's sad that emergency rooms & hospitals now have to have so much security? I certainly remember a different city- not covered with metal detectors and MSP helicopters hovering over the schools and cameras everywhere. Have we gone wrong and will the city of the future ever be less violent?