Game Store Robbery - Extremely SLOW Police Response Link?

**Zacha341** · August-05-11, 08:44 AM

Someone mentioned to me that over the last weekend a video game store in southwest Detroit was robbed of all equipment/ merchandise and the police response was over 10 hours or so. I thought I saw a bit of it on the news and the proprietor was pretty upset about the lack of response, but I cannot find a link of the actual story... Anyone have any details or the link?

A sculptor friend is looking at renting a studio in that area and other sections of the city or border suburb, but not looking to get robbed and have non-chalant police response...

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...r-Level-Studio!

**Crumbled_pavement** · August-05-11, 04:53 PM

I don't understand why the police response thing is such a big issue. It's been decades and yet it can't be addressed. This problem can't be that complicated, can it? It seems like this problem should have been nipped in the bud a couple of administrations ago. What are the roadblocks to getting police on the streets? Seems like it costs the city more not to have police on the streets [[lost tax revenue) than it would to put more cops on the streets. The story about the clothing store owner on Jefferson getting his store robbed by a truck smashing into the storefront is just unbelievable to me. This is Jefferson near downtown and not a single cop in all that time didn't just happen to be driving by?

**Zacha341** · August-05-11, 05:02 PM

I hear that Crumbled_pavement [[I love your handle)! I am still looking for the story, and cannot find it anywhere.

Any southwest Detroiter's recall the name of the store? It was only last weekend.

A 'pay advance' currency store in Dearborn down by Greenfield and Ford Rd. was robbed by too crazies, but police response was not a factor there.

**Zacha341** · August-05-11, 05:06 PM

Umm, correction: That sporting good store bash and smash incidence was NOT near downtown. That mall is located on Jefferson off of St. Jean. a few blocks from Conner.

That's well past Chene, Van Dyke, Belle Isle [[West Grand Blvd) etc. less than two miles from the Pointes. Not near downtown.

Policing in that area is very, VERY thin - one precinct covering the whole lower east side.

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

....The story about the clothing store owner on Jefferson getting his store robbed by a truck smashing into the storefront is just unbelievable to me. This is Jefferson near downtown and not a single cop in all that time didn't just happen to be driving by?

**Gannon** · August-06-11, 02:10 AM

Part of the problem may be summed up by this little ditty, reported second-hand:

Unruly neighbors of my friend got into an altercation in the middle of the street. It looked as if a woman was going to lose her life, or get bruised very badly. A few of the men of the neighborhood intervened and the cops were called.

Being a domestic situation, six or so cars pulled up. Not a one of the blues would willingly jump into the middle of the folks going at it...until one supervisor showed up, divided the couple into separate cars, and sent the rest of the blues on their way. At least four cars times two officers was tied up until this supervisor could arrive and pare down the response. Everyone underneath him was too afraid to do anything, from what I understood later.

So, where is your police response?! Tied up in oversight which causes officers to not make any moves they deem dangerous or prudent. But they are obviously paralyzed with a distinct lack of common sense, it seems, or are simply hardened to the reality of the citizenry's needs. Might be both.

No cheers on this one. For the record, the Eastern Market officers were great, and readily handed out their personal cell phone numbers to everyone living there...so they could by-pass the 911 problems and get their jobs done. But, come to think of it, that WAS only one guy and his young female partner.

**SWMAP** · August-06-11, 07:18 AM

Questions: was the robbery in progress when called in or already over & guys gone? That makes a big difference in response protocol when, somewhere else, a shooting has taken place, a home invasion is happening , etc.
By the way, doesn't it seem that the strip clubs all over the City are taking up more than their fair share of police and emergency responders time and effort? Any more of these great investments in the City and the neighborhoods can kiss their already-limited protection goodby.

**Zacha341** · August-06-11, 07:43 AM

^^^^ The owner on Fox 2 I believe was stating that he called the police once he discovered his store was robbed and it took them over 10 hours to come and make a report. I am still looking for the story....

**Zacha341** · August-06-11, 07:57 AM

Good points G. A domestic incident takes alot of police as they never know how the thing is going to bow and the bureaucracy of the policing. Indeed.

Originally Posted by Gannon

....At least four cars times two officers was tied up until this supervisor could arrive and pare down the response. Everyone underneath him was too afraid to do anything, from what I understood later.

**313WX** · August-06-11, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

The story about the clothing store owner on Jefferson getting his store robbed by a truck smashing into the storefront is just unbelievable to me. This is Jefferson near downtown and not a single cop in all that time didn't just happen to be driving by?

Ummm, no it's not.

But it's interesting that this happened directly across the street from where the 5th precinct used to be.

**Gannon** · August-06-11, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Good points G. A domestic incident takes alot of police as they never know how the thing is going to bow and the bureaucracy of the policing. Indeed.

I repect that...known since high school that police forces send all available units...it took six men to merely hold down an old friend who went into a jealous rage.

Since the story was second-hand, I cannot judge the temperament of the individuals involved...but the overall gist of the story is they could do nothing but stand around until one superior officer was able to finally arrive and take charge of the situation. The stuff he did was basic...Cop 101-type stuff.

A bunch of bodies were tied up just looking at each other for a while...I'll try to learn the duration, because if they told me I forget.

And all this time, Django is snickering that they put at least 2 cops onto guarding Freak Beach, and often summon 4 more to entrap and ticket them all. <sigh> Talk about your misuse of resources...

Cheers,
John

**Gistok** · August-06-11, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by SWMAP

Questions: was the robbery in progress when called in or already over & guys gone? That makes a big difference in response protocol when, somewhere else, a shooting has taken place, a home invasion is happening , etc.
By the way, doesn't it seem that the strip clubs all over the City are taking up more than their fair share of police and emergency responders time and effort? Any more of these great investments in the City and the neighborhoods can kiss their already-limited protection goodby.

Um.... yes there was a shooting at a strip club this week... where the strip club refused entry to some undesireable... and he shot and killed a club employee.... and yet you blame it on the strip club??

Next you'll be blaming the random shooting of all those kids at the W. Warren/Southfield Shell Station on the gas station itself....

**Zacha341** · August-06-11, 01:09 PM

Yeah, I pointed out that that location is miles from Downtown, even a bit of a distance past Belle Isle. And BTW that prior precinct is sorely missed.

Originally Posted by 313WX

Ummm, no it's not.

But it's interesting that this happened directly across the street from where the 5th precinct used to be.

**Crumbled_pavement** · August-07-11, 03:31 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Yeah, I pointed out that that location is miles from Downtown, even a bit of a distance past Belle Isle. And BTW that prior precinct is sorely missed.

It may not be a stone's throw from Downtown, but it is still on a major thoroughfare. This shouldn't be possible on any main street in the city, but especially not possible on 8 Mile, Telegraph, Michigan, Grand River, Woodward, Gratiot, or Jefferson streets. Can you imagine going out to Royal Oak and casually backing a truck into a store front window, jumping out and grabbing merchandise, and then just casually driving off and no one seen anything? No police officer was even just driving down the street? Businesses are extremely important to protect in the city and if they are neglected then the city loses money through lost tax revenue. I'm sure many more officers could be purchased with the lost revenue that happens when a business closes up or moves out of the city. We're debating minute details of whether this business was near downtown or not and missing the real issue. You protect your tax base because your tax base pays for all the things you need to be a functional city.

**SWMAP** · August-07-11, 05:50 AM

Gistok: the shootings at Mandees? The trouble at LAX? The shooting at Envy? The cops patrolling the club closings? All the calls to the clubs on Michigan Ave on Friday nights? This is just coincidental trouble that just happens to happen in/near the clubs but could happen on any corner in the city?
I agree that gas stations also seem to attract a lot of crime . But they have a broad community usage and are open statistically for many more hours daily - thus the rate of crime at gas stations is probably lower than the rate at strip clubs. How much policing time is dedicated to the strip clubs and is it worth it?

**Zacha341** · August-07-11, 06:04 AM

I did not mean to seem to be debating it, just wanted to point out the specific location to clarify the city geography for those who may really may not know. That being said, YES it should be shocking that a major main street has crash and grab robberies like that. Twice in one month! Crazy!

Some major streets are getting pretty rough and absent of police cruisers.... Sections of Grand River, Fenkell comes to mind, and there are stretches of Jefferson getting like that. Especially void of patrols are sections on the east side as that one Gratiot Police Precinct has to cover an very wide area. The criminals know this...

The crash and grab folks moving outwards too. Dearborn had an incident at a Family Dollar on a major street and then a 'bonnie & clyde' style robbery at a Pay Advance a busy mall with a Target store a few yards away [[Ford and Greenfield)!

Originally Posted by Crumbled_pavement

It may not be a stone's throw from Downtown, but it is still on a major thoroughfare. This shouldn't be possible on any main street in the city, but especially not possible on 8 Mile, Telegraph, Michigan, Grand River, Woodward, Gratiot, or Jefferson streets. Can you imagine going out to Royal Oak and casually backing a truck into a store front window, jumping out and grabbing merchandise, and then just casually driving off and no one seen anything?