Could Detroit be the next Ferguson or Baltimore?

[noggin]

If a white Detroit policeman kills an African American could we be next?

[313WX]

No.

Understandably, Detroiters are already pretty defeated, calloused and apathethic...

[gameguy56]

Nope. Not since Coleman Young integrated the DPD

[gvidas]

Mike Brown and Freddie Gray and Eric Garner [[and ...) weren't outliers. Their deaths ignited massive protests because the communities they were a part of had endured a lot of abuse leading up to their deaths.

I don't have my ear to the ground in terms of Detroit police and their relations with the public. But it doesn't sound like the DPD has that kind of contentious, abusive relationship with Detroiters.

if I had to guess, I'd say the likelihood of rioting due to police misconduct is much higher in the suburbs. I'm remembering some recent incidents in Grosse Point, Inkster, and Warren. I can also imagine something going awry with all of the private security in the downtown area. But again, if there is a pattern of chronic misconduct, as a reasonably news-addicted Detroiter, I am not aware of it.

[brizee]

Wayne County in general and Detroit specifically tend to treat these issues as seriously they should.

Guilty[[Budzen Nevers) or innocent [[Weekly) they get their day in court [[and that piece in shit in Redford will soon see). Which is ALL that can be asked.

It's one of the few things this area can stand tall about.

[sumas]

Detroiters are not apathetic rather the majority of us are too old to react. The police are integrated and generally respectful and responsive. Neighborhoods peaceful. Neighbors have no problems ratting out scum. We are mostly home owners and respect each other.

Rioting is insane, along with looting, arson etc. We saw/lived the damage from 1967. Doubt we will accept that scenario again.

If the prisons would quit dumping dregs into Detroit we will be just fine.

The justice system works well and rogue cops go to jail.

[313WX]

Detroiters are not apathetic rather the majority of us are too old to react.

There are way more "younger" people in Detroit than there are in Baltimore, so that has nothing to do with it.

The fact is people in Detroit are more so concerned about not getting shot or robbed by their fellow "neighbors" while attempting to save what's left of their fractured neighborhoods after 6 decades and counting of rapid decay and decline.

If Detroit were still the densely populated, bustling, economically prosperous city it was in 1967, things would be a different story IMO.

[Bham1982]

Nope. Not since Coleman Young integrated the DPD

Baltimore, if anything, has a blacker power structure than Detroit. Black mayor, black police chief, black police force, and a much blacker metro area and state.

Obviously if it can happen in Baltimore it can happen in Detroit. The assumption that riots are less likely to occur if an area has black leadership and/or a black police force isn't based on anything.

[Wesley Mouch]

Baltimore, if anything, has a blacker power structure than Detroit. Black mayor, black police chief, black police force, and a much blacker metro area and state.

Obviously if it can happen in Baltimore it can happen in Detroit. The assumption that riots are less likely to occur if an area has black leadership and/or a black police force isn't based on anything.

Its no longer in vogue to blame the race of the local police officers or officials, since that no longer plays to the 'appeasement liberal' mindset. Now the blame is on the inherent racism of the system. We know someone must be blamed. Just not sure who.

[Ray1936]

Ain't much left to burn. 'Burbs could catch the dickens.

[Gpwrangler]

Ain't much left to burn. 'Burbs could catch the dickens.

That would be the end of Detroit's comeback.

[animatedmartian]

The DPD has like two white guys on the force.

I'm kidding, but really in an majority black police force, the citizens trust the police more and the issues are usually with non-DPD police personnel who tend to be majority white.

Either way, I can't really imagine there'd be a riot over it because there's not many areas of value within Detroit. What, is a mob going to burn down a strip mall at 7 Mile and Gratiot? In an area that already has hundreds of burnt out buildings? No one would know the difference between what was already there and the aftermath.

[jerrytimes]

Wasn't Detroit the first Fergusson, or Baltimore?

[noggin]

Look at all the new development on Woodward. Couldn't any incident be used as an excuse to riot and pillage? There are a lot of bad people around that would do it with any opportunity.

[animatedmartian]

Look at all the new development on Woodward. Couldn't any incident be used as an excuse to riot and pillage? There are a lot of bad people around that would do it with any opportunity.

Any sizable mob that formed in downtown or Midtown would be larger than the actual area of contiguous blocks that have development. It'd be pretty easy for police to disperse mobs into nearby vacant and already burned out neighborhoods.

[Hermod]

A series of urban riots between now and Nov 2016 would lead to election of a Republican president.

[Bham1982]

A series of urban riots between now and Nov 2016 would lead to election of a Republican president.

That's what I was thinking. These riots, if they continue, or are followed by others, will ensure a Republican president. Looting of liquor stores and lottery outlets, while laughing and taking selfies, will not be interpreted as an act of political protest in Middle America.

[noise]

That's what I was thinking. These riots, if they continue, or are followed by others, will ensure a Republican president. Looting of liquor stores and lottery outlets, while laughing and taking selfies, will not be interpreted as an act of political protest in Middle America.

Unfortunately, "Middle America" has a pretty myopic view of any complex situation. Reinforcing bias, at the expense of reality, is an art.

[Zacha341]

If anything the politics are a 'quarter' inch deep and that's being generous. The person already poised to act out ala looting for cigarettes, trinkets and booze just seized the moment... selfies and all.

Looting of liquor stores and lottery outlets, while laughing and taking selfies, will not be interpreted as an act of political protest in Middle America.

[noise]

If anything the politics are a 'quarter' inch deep and that's being generous. The person already poised to act out ala looting for cigarettes, trinkets and booze just seized the moment... selfies and all.

While this may often [[sometimes?) be the case, I think it overlooks the uneducated & disenfranchised who are very much making a political stance, no matter how misguided it may be.

[Zacha341]

Yeah I get that distinction -- too bad sometimes tethered with fools.

While this may often [[sometimes?) be the case, I think it overlooks the uneducated & disenfranchised who are very much making a political stance, no matter how misguided it may be.

[kanfar]

While this may often [[sometimes?) be the case, I think it overlooks the uneducated & disenfranchised who are very much making a political stance, no matter how misguided it may be.

Your idealism is wonderful and in other circumstances may have merit. But, in this case, please spare me trying to turn what is happening now into making a political stance. That makes you sound like you are condoning the behavior which I'm sure you don't want to do. The mom, clip now on TV, who recognized her son looting and went out and grabbed him certainly wasn't condoning his behavior. I'd hate to be him when she got him home based on her reaction while yanking him off the street.

[Chicago48]

If a white Detroit policeman kills an African American could we be next?

Nope won't happen. First of all the city has lost half it's population and the people who are left are [[black) senior citizens, over the age of 40, not many young people in the city.

[noggin]

For those of old enough to remember, in 1967 Detroit was one of the most advanced in race relations until 12th Street started to burn and the national guard was called in. It may happen again.

[Now&then]

For those of old enough to remember, in 1967 Detroit was one of the most advanced in race relations until 12th Street started to burn and the national guard was called in. It may happen again.

??? Most advanced prior to 1967? Where do you get that? Even up until 1967 [[prior to the heavy white flight), Detroit was heavily segregated within it's own borders. The whole Northwest side was mostly white. Let's not forget riots prior [[like the one on Belle Isle in the '40s.) to 1967. Maybe Detroit mentality now and the relations with cops isn't as bad as Cincinnati, L.A., or parts in the South, but prior to 1967, it wasn't super.