Bing not responding to public safety issues.

[kraig]

June 19, 2009


Bing needs to stop passing the ball on Detroiters' safety

By JEFF GERRITT
FREE PRESS EDITORIAL WRITER New Mayor Dave Bing has a lot on his plate, but that’s no excuse for going MIA on public safety in Detroit neighborhoods. His lack of response to what appears to be serious problems in how Detroit Police report and handle homicides and other crimes shows he’s either out-of-touch with the hard-knock realities facing Detroiters around-the-way, or clueless about the public relations side of running a big city.

There’s little doubt that Bing would handle, in a very public way, threats to the safety of suburban commuters in Detroit’s central business district. But he has no real response to troubling revelations about crime in Detroit neighborhoods, which gets little attention from politicians or media.
Two weeks ago, I raised troubling questions about whether Detroit police, who have lost hundreds of officers, were investigating, or even reporting, many crimes. The response from Detroit Police was virtual silence, other than to stand by their discredited statistics. When I asked for the number of murders that were committed in Detroit so far this year, I was told to submit a formal Freedom of Information Act request. That’s not the transparency that Detroiters deserve, or Bing should aim for.
There’s no good reason people in this city shouldn’t know how many Detroiters were killed last year. Initially, Detroit police reported 306 homicides for last year. They later revised the number to 339. But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told me the figure was closer to 400. A Detroit News review of police and medical examiner records, reported this week, put the number of slayings at 368 and concluded that Detroit police routinely underreport homicides.
How can the city solve a problem that its leaders don’t fully acknowledge? Asked for a response, Bing’s office declined to comment, referring reporters to the mayor’s police department. That's not leadership or accountability — and I say this as someone who lives in the city of Detroit and voted for Bing. He ought either to defend his department’s crime stats and operations, or declare that he will get statistics he can count on and fix the problem.
Bing, who lived in the suburbs before campaigning for mayor, cannot afford to be perceived as disengaged or out of touch. More than 10,000 people a year continue to leave the city, partly because they don’t believe Detroit Police can protect them. It’s time for the mayor to call for the ball on the issue of neighborhood safety and stop passing to the perimeter.




I'll say one thing, he's consistent. He didn't care to talk to people before the election and he doesn't care now.

[Jmil]

I'm not sure why folks are surprised at Bing's "leadership" aka business as usual.
The citizens of Detroit overwhelming voted NONE of the ABOVE! and were greatly criticized.

[HazenPingree]

Bing is "not responding" to almost anything.

[bailey]

With only 14% of the population turning out to vote, what did anyone expect?

Aside from apathy, he was pretty clear about being a one-termer and he was going to do it "his way". What possible threat is there to get him to act? Detroit voter's won't turn out to vote him back in?

[MIRepublic]

Bing is "not responding" to almost anything.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one catching this. I think there has been two or three big city issues that come up where I've read that his office has refused to respond to inquiries about the situations. The first and the second time wasn't a huge deal, though it left me concerned. The third time shows it's a disturbing pattern of passing the buck.

[firstandten]

I've not been happy with Mayor Bing's grasp of the issues facing the city. His management style while promoting change is very hands off, prefering to let dept. heads respond. I was always afraid of this about him and thats why I didn't vote for him. Now with no creditable opposition running against him in Nov, he will get the Cobo deal done soon and walk into office in Nov with a four year mandate. I really don't expect great things from him, however if can keep the ship afloat and not have the city go into receivership I think that will be about the best we can hope for.

[Blarf]

The man hasn't been in office for less than 2 months.

Relax.

[milesdriven]

This security system worked wonders for me when I lived on the east side:

[Downtown diva]

I've not been happy with Mayor Bing's grasp of the issues facing the city. His management style while promoting change is very hands off, prefering to let dept. heads respond. I was always afraid of this about him and thats why I didn't vote for him. Now with no creditable opposition running against him in Nov, he will get the Cobo deal done soon and walk into office in Nov with a four year mandate. I really don't expect great things from him, however if can keep the ship afloat and not have the city go into receivership I think that will be about the best we can hope for.

I agree. At least with Kwame, things got done!

[MIRepublic]

The man hasn't been in office for less than 2 months.

Relax.

I suspected that may come up and it's really quite sad. This has nothing to do about time in office; that's just silly. It has to do with giving your citizens the respect of even a limited and honest response when asked a question about an issue, if even that answer is something akin to "We're looking into it". "Declined to comment" is not an acceptable response to the questions he's been asked about numerous city issues, nor is it leadership. What it is is his characteristic aloofness that voters didn't seem to mind throughout his entire campaign.

[softailrider]

I agree. At least with Kwame, things got done!

I disagree, with Coleman Young things got done. With Kwame, things went downhill. Of course, it wasn't all his fault.

[DetroitDad]

Bing is "not responding" to almost anything.

The real election hasn't happened yet!

[Bearinabox]

The real election hasn't happened yet!

Thanks for the helpful bit of political trivia.

[Blarf]

I suspected that may come up and it's really quite sad. This has nothing to do about time in office; that's just silly. It has to do with giving your citizens the respect of even a limited and honest response when asked a question about an issue, if even that answer is something akin to "We're looking into it". "Declined to comment" is not an acceptable response to the questions he's been asked about numerous city issues, nor is it leadership. What it is is his characteristic aloofness that voters didn't seem to mind throughout his entire campaign.

I forgot, he's suppose to make an IMMEDIATE impact on every single issue in the city at the same time.

[firstandten]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MIRepublic
I suspected that may come up and it's really quite sad. This has nothing to do about time in office; that's just silly. It has to do with giving your citizens the respect of even a limited and honest response when asked a question about an issue, if even that answer is something akin to "We're looking into it". "Declined to comment" is not an acceptable response to the questions he's been asked about numerous city issues, nor is it leadership. What it is is his characteristic aloofness that voters didn't seem to mind throughout his entire campaign

I forgot, he's suppose to make an IMMEDIATE impact on every single issue in the city at the same time.

You either didn't read or understood what MIRepublic posted

[Downtown diva]

I disagree, with Coleman Young things got done. With Kwame, things went downhill. Of course, it wasn't all his fault.

i agree. it wasnt all his fault. hate to sound off the conspiracy alarm, but it makes you wonder, huh?

my grandfather used to end his sermons by saying "how fair does ruin or consequence kwell silence?"

how right he was!

Happy father's day. y'all