Night Walks Planned to Help Deter Crime in Detroit

**Zacha341** · May-23-12, 09:30 PM

From article:

Detroit's recent pattern of violence is now forcing members of the clergy into the streets. They'll soon be working with police to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.
"It appears that everybody is running around in Detroit killing each other, but, in fact, what we know is that it's a small number of people who are responsible for the violence and ruining it for the rest of us," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...it-20120523-ms

**Crumbled_pavement** · May-23-12, 09:39 PM

Great, another doomed idea.

Occurrence · May-24-12, 12:36 AM

This is going to have a phenomenal impact. By this time next year I predict the entire city will be virtually crime-free.

**BasementBeat** · May-24-12, 02:42 AM

It doesn't hurt to have more community involvement...

**Gannon** · May-24-12, 05:19 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

From article:

Detroit's recent pattern of violence is now forcing members of the clergy into the streets. They'll soon be working with police to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.
"It appears that everybody is running around in Detroit killing each other, but, in fact, what we know is that it's a small number of people who are responsible for the violence and ruining it for the rest of us," said U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...it-20120523-ms

This will only work if those who profess the prosperity doctrine wear it, literally, on their sleeves. They must treat these walks with the same respect and honor they do their Sunday finest to prove every week.

'Cuz you just gotta know a few of the sweet older women are gonna start up with that "Walkin' on Holy Ground" song, and it'll be church outside of Church.

Of course, they are truly only creating dozens upon dozens more targets...

Cheers,
John

**firstandten** · May-24-12, 06:54 AM

I'm really not into that type of symbolism. In some respects I think its a cop out and the clergy should be spending its time developing outreach programs within there churches targeted at these folks and there parents. Too many of the clergy will say Well! we marched, problem solved, lets pass the plate !

**rutlev** · May-24-12, 08:12 AM

Make sure their houses are secure while they are on the "walk"
And 3-5AM is a better time to make street presence since that's
when most of the bad guys prey on cars, garages, and houses.

**corktownyuppie** · May-24-12, 08:32 AM

Actually, I think this is one of the better ideas I've seen in awhile. Community enforcement means that we're shifting from, "Why won't *they* make the problem go away" to "How can *we* make the problem go away."

Major changes happen when people start taking ownership, and I think this has some real potential. This kind of thing is what puts police and the community on the same team and planting the seeds of trust that will start chipping away at the "no-snitch" culture.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · May-24-12, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

Actually, I think this is one of the better ideas I've seen in awhile. Community enforcement means that we're shifting from, "Why won't *they* make the problem go away" to "How can *we* make the problem go away."

Major changes happen when people start taking ownership, and I think this has some real potential. This kind of thing is what puts police and the community on the same team and planting the seeds of trust that will start chipping away at the "no-snitch" culture.

Well put, CT Yuppie. I think your point about people taking ownership of their communities is essential.

**Detroitgayhistoryguy** · May-24-12, 01:22 PM

I'd feel safer walking in a gay pride parade in Tehran.

**daddeeo** · May-24-12, 03:42 PM

I'm afraid this is another grandstander move. Hope I'm wrong.
A better idea would be to get people not afraid to turn in bad guys.
That "don't snitch" slogan is for morons.

**corktownyuppie** · May-24-12, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by daddeeo

A better idea would be to get people not afraid to turn in bad guys.

Not tryna be a hater here, but isn't that the point of the program? I'd think that a regular "show of force" by people in the community would start to change the mentality here.

**gazhekwe** · May-24-12, 04:24 PM

In combination with the Broken Windows approach, this is going in the right direction. Get community members involved in keeping their communities clean, safe and in good repair, and the criminal element will have to find someplace where it is easier to do the crime.

**Crumbled_pavement** · May-24-12, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by corktownyuppie

Actually, I think this is one of the better ideas I've seen in awhile. Community enforcement means that we're shifting from, "Why won't *they* make the problem go away" to "How can *we* make the problem go away."

Major changes happen when people start taking ownership, and I think this has some real potential. This kind of thing is what puts police and the community on the same team and planting the seeds of trust that will start chipping away at the "no-snitch" culture.

I agree with you 100%. My question is how many days, errr weeks, will this walking last before it's another idea that's discarded? It's just a publicity stunt to look like something is being done when by this time in July this whole idea will have been long forgotten.

**firstandten** · May-24-12, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by daddeeo

I'm afraid this is another grandstander move. Hope I'm wrong.
A better idea would be to get people not afraid to turn in bad guys.
That "don't snitch" slogan is for morons.

There's a lot more to the no snitch culture thats going to make it a lot harder to get rid of than just slogans.

A lot of people who might be snitches are in the periphery of the crime culture themselves, they might not be doing crimes but they have relatives, friends that do, or they may have benefitted themselves by getting hot merchandise etc. News travel fast in the hood people figure out pretty quickly who dropped a dime on them.

Which brings me to my next point. For many folks not snitching is a matter of survival. Rightly or wrongly people believe the police cannot protect someone who snitches which encourages people to stay quiet. Its easy to talk about no-snitching when you live miles away from the people you snitched on. When you live around the corner or down the block chances of people finding out you snitched on them is painfully real

There's not an easy answer to no snitching and some people who do step up and tell are very brave but unfortunately not everyone is like that.