Could Detroit be the next Ferguson or Baltimore?

[noise]

If you have bothered to read my posts over the years, I am well aware of the issues and city problems. Viable neighborhoods have had to fend for ourselves. Yes I have great neighbors so what is your problem?

We have strong block clubs, street associations and area associations. We have excellent relations with our police precinct. Our rec center has no funding, so community has created activities for our youth.

Detroit bashing is getting tiresome.

I usually try to avoid your posts, to be honest.

Great, you've got good neighbors. Therefore this situation can't happen in Detroit.

The neighborhoods are peaceful. Therefore the crime in Detroit is a fabrication.

Realism and bashing are not the same thing. Take off your blinders. Think before you post.

[Zozo]

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

How come you don't ask, "If a European American Detroit policeman kills an African American could we be next?"

[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.

[Wheels]

The sad truth is what is left in the neighborhoods to loot? Their are plenty of empty buildings to burn, but that is a regular occurrence now. Ferguson is a suburb. Inkster or Southfield are the more likely candidates.

[sumas]

I usually try to avoid your posts, to be honest.

Great, you've got good neighbors. Therefore this situation can't happen in Detroit.

The neighborhoods are peaceful. Therefore the crime in Detroit is a fabrication.

Realism and bashing are not the same thing. Take off your blinders. Think before you post.

Thank you for kind words. Not hard to block posts from idiots. You are blocked and feel free to block me.

[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.

[Ray1936]

Thank you for kind words. Not hard to block posts from idiots. You are blocked and feel free to block me.

I think that "Noise" has a good user name, sumas. Hang in there.

[noise]

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

Certainly. It's interesting how this is portrayed in comparison to white college student sports-related rioting.

[noise]

I think that "Noise" has a good user name, sumas. Hang in there.

It seems you should be old enough to skip the trolling and address the comments directly.

Or maybe you agree that the neighborhoods are peaceful, the neighbors are good, and, as such, civil unrest cannot happen in Detroit.

[Lowell]

Now this? sheesh. An ICE officer?
ICE Officer ‘Faced With A Threat’ Fatally Shoots 20-Year-Old Man In Detroit
April 27, 2015 5:53 PM

DETROIT [[WWJ) – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement [[ICE) officer shot and killed an 20-year-old man Monday afternoon on Detroit’s northwest side.

Police say the agent — part of a fugitive task force involving ICE and officers with the Detroit Police Department — was attempting to serve an armed robbery warrant at a home in the 9500 block of Evergreen near W. Chicago when the shooting occurred.

“I am told there was no forced entry into the residence, that they were allowed inside,” said Detroit Police Chief James Craig. “And I’m also told that the agent may have been faced with a threat, and it was at that point when he decided to use deadly force.”

Craig would not talk more specifically about that alleged threat.

The suspect — a black man — had a prior criminal record including weapons charges, according to police.

WWJ’s Russ McNamara reported Craig was “trying to calm” neighbors at the scene expressing anger and frustration as they demanded answers.

One woman shouted at the chief as she described what she claims happened.

“It was 10 bullets…and did it take 10 bullets? When he came out, they didn’t have the handcuffs on him!” she said. “They shot him! He was not able to run to do nothin’. Y’all didn’t give him a chance!”

Craig promised a thorough investigation.

[mtburb]

Sounds like we're now a step closer to erupting into chaos like it's 1967, sadly.

[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.

[jackie5275]

I was quite nervous when Andrew Jackson Jr. took a beat down by white cops right after carjacking a grandmother back in January. However, the community seemed to rally around the grandmother, and nothing else came from it.

[jackie5275]

That is mean. I have great neighbors and we all look out for each other.

I don't think it's mean. I think most of what 313 said is probably accurate. You may live in a neighborhood that is stable, but not all in the city are. Instability can leave a neighborhood vulnerable to bad things. I've experienced in Warrendale.

[animatedmartian]

I think it's extremely naïve to think any one incident couldn't quickly escalate in Detroit as easily as dozens of other cities. There are plenty of white officers working for the DEA, FBI, Homeland Security, etc. The shooting of a fugitive yesterday by a black officer caused a small disturbance that could have quickly escalated. Fortunately the Detroit Police seem well aware of this and Chief Craig quickly came to the scene to calm matters.

I kinda of thought that last night, but when I think about it, those organizations are usually going directly after known criminals, unlike the local PDs who may or may not know the identity of the suspect they're dealing with.

Of course, the feds can screw up and something unfortunate can happen. But I also feel like federal organizations are more likely to take responsibility for their screw ups than would local departments. I'm sure there's corruption to some extent, but I think since most people interact with local departments more often, many more issues are likely to stem from there.

[SWMAP]

From today's Globe and Mail - an essay about life in Baltimore

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle24149659/

Is Detroit much different? Somehow, I think Detroit has turned a corner toward the better.

[drjeff]

From today's Globe and Mail - an essay about life in Baltimore

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle24149659/

Is Detroit much different? Somehow, I think Detroit has turned a corner toward the better.

I lived in Baltimore from 1986-1994. I was actually back to visit last weekend. Race relations there have been contentious since before the 1980s. Having grown up in a very diverse community, I was shocked at how rudely black people treated whites and vice versa. Even more strange is the lack of interaction between races in much of the city. There can be a neighborhood that is 95% black and a neighborhood that is majority white literally across the street from each other but it's like there's a wall between them.

That said, the article you posted is pretty ridiculous. The author was living in a bad neighborhood near Johns Hopkins Hospital, which was once one of the most dangerous parts of the city but has now been pretty gentrified. She could certainly have afforded to live in one of the many safe, nice neighborhoods in Baltimore City but apparently chose not to for some reason. I never had any problems with crime and I lived in fairly poor areas for several years.

[iheartthed]

I mean this with all due respect... This is a stupid question.

[noise]

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.

It's not even a story, in my book. Violence against property is much different than violence against people.

The police killed a man. They've killed many men. Who cares about property when lives are being lost?

Don't answer that. It's sure to be an ugly response.

[Wesley Mouch]

The right needs to realize that this disquiet is based on a real problem. Its not OK to riot. Its also not OK to create a system that isn't trusted by a minority.

The left needs to realize that the genie they've let out of the bottle will destroy race relations far more than it will help. Sure, something needed to be done. This sure isn't it.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

It's not even a story, in my book. Violence against property is much different than violence against people.

The police killed a man. They've killed many men. Who cares about property when lives are being lost?

Don't answer that. It's sure to be an ugly response.

Here's what I consider to be a response which is not ugly. These are not mutually exclusive issues. You can care about an unjust killing and think that the property destruction is wrong, and in fact counterproductive.

Anyone who's house was burnt down cares about the property destruction. The seniors who cannot move into subsidized housing because their complex was destroyed might give a hoot. The employees not working at CVS any longer are probably concerned. Anyone who's looking at the bus schedule because their car was torched might be upset. The neighborhood residents who realize that its now much less likely that jobs and investments will take place in their neighborhood might care as well. And all at the same time they are mad about the killing.

[Honky Tonk]

Now this? sheesh. An ICE officer?
ICE Officer ‘Faced With A Threat’ Fatally Shoots 20-Year-Old Man In Detroit
April 27, 2015 5:53 PM

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/04/...ng-in-detroit/

[Scottathew]

If you have bothered to read my posts over the years, I am well aware of the issues and city problems. Viable neighborhoods have had to fend for ourselves.

Yes I have great neighbors so what is your problem?

We have strong block clubs, street associations and area associations. We have excellent relations with our police precinct. Our rec center has no funding, so community has created activities for our youth.

Detroit bashing is getting tiresome.

Many people don't like it when the "Detroit sucks" narrative is broken.

I live in the burbs and I'm white, so many people feel safe to bash Detroit around me. When I start correcting\challenging some of their beliefs with a positive tone and examples of good things happens, and bad things that have gone away, I see it "click" in their minds.

[Scottathew]

This issue is a complex one.

- Police brutality is bad, and should be stopped
- Abuse of police power is bad, and should be stopped
- Being a criminal is bad, and they should be arrested, tried, and put in jail
- Running from the police is bad, and those doing it should be apprehended
- Not every instance of a black man dying at the hands of a white cop is an injustice
- Not every instance of a black man dying at the hand of a white cop is justifiable
- Black lives do matter
- Cops lives do matter
- There are instances where lethal force should and can be used
- There are instances where lethal force should NOT be used
- Cops improperly using lethal force should be prosecuted
- Thugs forcing cops to use lethal force should not be martyred
- Protesting is fine
- Burning police cars, looting stores, and beating people is not

Everything needs to be evaluated for its merit. Every instance of police lethal force, every protester, etc... Just because a cop killed someone doesn't mean it wasn't justified, and just because someone is in the street protesting doesn't mean that they're a thug, looter, rioter, etc...