A Cop on Every Corner? Come Downtown for the Fireworks. It's Safe Tonight.

[Lowell]

TV news reports that the Fireworks went off wonderfully. Hundreds of thousands had fun and nothing happened. It must be a cover up. We all know that can't happen in downtown Detroit.

Okay I 'll stop now.

I bailed once the the fireworks were set to start and had quick exit and easy drive. I took I-696. The most charming thing I saw was bridge after bridge lined with people waiting to watch the fireworks, some as far out as Livernois.

There are so many places from which to watch. It would be interesting to know how many actually watch. All the attention is on downtown but the reach is far greater.

[DetroitHabitater]

Large fight on my street in Corktown: 30 people . Shots fired. Didn't see any cops for a dozen blocks. Law enforcement drops the ball again.

[5speedz34]

What block of Corktown??

I ran out briefly at 9PM to get some food and decided to listen to WWJ to make sure I wasn't going to get caught in fireworks related traffic. They briefly mentioned that the police were enforcing curfew ordinances. I figured it would be after the show was over, ya know to take care of stragglers?

[corktownyuppie]

What block of Corktown??

I ran out briefly at 9PM to get some food and decided to listen to WWJ to make sure I wasn't going to get caught in fireworks related traffic. They briefly mentioned that the police were enforcing curfew ordinances. I figured it would be after the show was over, ya know to take care of stragglers?

I was downtown all night. Generally seemed incident free. Only complaint was large group of like 10-20 teenagers there without adult supervision. They were loud, rude. One of them started yelling at someone else in the group and it looked like a fight was about to break out before a police officer approached them and they calmed down.

I have no problem with the curfew. None at all.

[eno]

You wouldn't be saying that if it was your sister or girl friend who was shot and no one came forward to identify the killers.

[raptor56]

Took the SMART bus today to avoid potential armatrafficgeddon. Was surprised how many cops I saw walking around while I was waiting for the bus on the corner of Randolph and Monroe. Wish they could be all over the city more often like that.

[laphoque]

The follow-up in the news was hallucinogenically hilarious:

"I think it's really sad that people can't come out and enjoy themselves for a family event like it is today," said Gregory Swain, an Oak Park resident who was asked to move by police. "This is why everyone goes out to the suburbs so they can enjoy themselves and not be harassed by the police."

I remember just weeks ago when Detroit was the deadliest place in America and now, now it's practically achieved Manhattan levels of civil order :') . People are moving to the suburbs to avoid all the law and order in Detroit.

I was right by where those people were running. I didn't hear any shots fired and after I saw all the horse-riding police trot over that way I tried walking closer for a better look [[curiosity hasn't killed me yet) and it more looked like the people were running because they had broken a fence and were in an area they weren't supposed to be. People filled in those vacated spots. I also never saw an ambulance go there. However the police were busy.

I must say this fireworks did feel much more orderly. Usually they don't have enough force to keep people from dashing across Jefferson to pack the plaza. I couldn't even see the people in Hart Plaza where there is usually a crowd up to the street so they must have way reduced the number of people allowed in there.

The weirdest part about where I was was the big brother spot light tower.

They had a bright spotlight they kept shining on the crowd. It was was blocking the panorama. Of course I took pictures. I even got one in there of it taking a picture of me taking a picture of it.

[jtf1972]

Got home just after it ended. Oh well...

[Gannon]

I am still a bit torqued over tonight.

As I said to my friend, when we went down to street level so he could catch a smoke...I both love and hate crowds in events like this.

I love the energy of anticipation, families and friends together for celebration.

I hate that at any time, someone with an out-of-control ego can fuck it up good.

I didn't realize until the drive home that I'm still greatly affected by that shooting six or so years ago. Sat on the median under the habitrail between the RenCen and Millender Center watching the police cars stream by...counting the number of people taken away.

That PTSD lit an undercurrent of dread which was fueled by the odd negatives we saw from our vantage point high in the sky. After that stampede out of Hart Plaza, we saw two individuals carried out on stretchers. Whisked away quickly.

The exodus fifteen minutes or so later was simply too strange, and I'd love to hear from anyone who was in THAT group to know why.

I thought they had evacuated the Plaza...it was tonnage of people...and they were allowed to go through the 'teen corral', weirdly disrupting their safety space.

But when the show was over, I couldn't help but think that the Plaza had magically become a clown-car. People just kept coming out of it...I'd swear five times the number of those in the exodus, which was clearly over a thousand bodies. But there is no way we could fit five thousand in Hart Plaza, right?!

Although, come to think of it...one of those Wings celebrations drew over a million, and we really crammed the Plaza then. There was NO issues with that crowd, though. I think the police reported a few dozen drunk-n-disorderlies in a million and a half people...but no violence.


Still not happy how they handled this curfew...I'd like to know how much it cost each one of those kids to show up to the party. I do know that for the few who didn't already have a poor view of the police, they certainly have one now. And a valid reason, at least for the Chief Idiot Beegod.


But I am glad we didn't witness any other troubles, and had some fun thanking the cleanup crew on the way to the parking structure. Cops were mulling around in force as late as midnight...I wonder why they weren't let go earlier. That labor time most certainly cost the city huge...and ONE hour shaved, times the many hundreds of officers on duty [[some undoubtedly on 1.5 to 2x overtime), could've gone to something good.

Like subsidizing Bing's land giveaway to Hantz...perhaps.

Yeah, I'm kidding. Detroit is devoid of logical leadership, the old ways are returning. Bing seems to realize he CAN personally profit from his hassles being the CardBoard Mayor...flapping with the slightest breeze.


Time for bed. Hope y'all got home safe. It really WAS a great show. Best I've ever seen, by far.


And Zacha, the Berry is the neighborhood with the Manoogian Mansion...Jefferson just east of the Belle Isle bridge. Good to know our most prosperous citizens were directly protected.

I'm thinking Bing wasn't even THERE...after the show, a motorcade sped west on Jefferson, might've been six black vehicles. We never saw where it came from, but it wasn't heading to the Manoogian. The middle one was that Cadillac SUV...but there was a Honda SUV in the convoy, too. What does Mayor Bong get ridden around in, on the taxpayer's dime?!


Sincerely,
John

[Gannon]

Large fight on my street in Corktown: 30 people . Shots fired. Didn't see any cops for a dozen blocks. Law enforcement drops the ball again.

We were saying that if anything happened anywhere ELSE in the city, they were doomed. Damned sorry to hear we were right...even more sorry the neighborhoods were obviously ignored for the spectacle.

[Gannon]

Mystery solved. The Governor was in town for the party, according to the Freep.

"This is great family entertainment in downtown Detroit," he said of the $200-per-ticket fireworks party, which Gov. Rick Snyder also attended. "The city needs more of this to get predominantly suburban families back downtown."

And they say the shootings were 8 years ago.

[DetroitHabitater]

Bagley. there was a scuffle of at least 20 people in the center with an altercation going on with maybe up to 5 people with a swarm of teens around them being pushed around the street and up against parked cars. Then about 5-7 minutes into it 3 shots rang out-possibly to clear the area. When I went back out to look nobody. The area cleared out within 2 minutes of the gunfire. Either way not cool.

[AGinthe313]

I'm very happy to see that DPD and other law enforcement
agencies were out in full force last night. Frankly, I have no problem with
curfews and aggressive enforcement of these curfews. Last night I watched as
groups of young people acted like fools walking down my street. They even made smart ass comments to me as I was walked my dogs -- I had to check a few of them, which almost caused a confrontation. So if a bunch of young people were detained and had be picked-up by their parents -- my reaction...so what! The fireworks should be for families, not groups of kids looking to start fights or cause trouble. I hate to generalize, but the youth in this city are
out-of-control, confrontational, loud, obnoxious, and have zero respect for
anything or anyone. I've lived in Detroit and in the Burbs for 40+ years and
I've been to the fireworks once -- I refuse to go and put my safety, or the
safety of my family at risk.

[Gannon]

Forgot to mention, the perfect coda for the evening was when that 'gang' of bicyclists drove back by.

The crowds were gone, it was well after eleven...the party space returned to proper office conditions...and we happened to look back down to see the beautiful parade of person-powered hoopties...all decked out with LED lighting, some with obviously custom-made forks and frames, along with a few trikes...and they'd grown in number by almost double from earlier in the night. Easily over a hundred bikers, lazily and peacefully riding back home.

Kudos to this group, whoever they are, because we need more creative outlets to allow everyone the chance to exist at least a step above their base misbehavior. It was quite heart-warming to watch, it reminded me of that scene from the first Men In Black, when they step outside after talking with the ExtraTerrestrial Arms Dealer...and that tandem bike rode by all decked out.

Only times a hundred...

[Gannon]

I'm very happy to see that DPD and other law enforcement
agencies were out in full force last night. Frankly, I have no problem with
curfews and aggressive enforcement of these curfews. Last night I watched as
groups of young people acted like fools walking down my street. They even made smart ass comments to me as I was walked my dogs -- I had to check a few of them, which almost caused a confrontation. So if a bunch of young people were detained and had be picked-up by their parents -- my reaction...so what! The fireworks should be for families, not groups of kids looking to start fights or cause trouble. I hate to generalize, but the youth in this city are
out-of-control, confrontational, loud, obnoxious, and have zero respect for
anything or anyone. I've lived in Detroit and in the Burbs for 40+ years and
I've been to the fireworks once -- I refuse to go and put my safety, or the
safety of my family at risk.

Yeah, maybe Beegod can pre-emptively just throw them ALL in jail then. Yanno, to save us the trouble of dealing with them. That is a solution.

From hell.

All it did was MOVE the problem children away from the core area...and that is no solution at all. Learned this morning that these kids were held in detention until a parent or guardian was able to come all the way down to the SW side precinct, and they all got tickets.

I am absolutely sure a few of the fighters and resistors got a wee bit more.

Either way...do you REALLY think this did anything but align more folks against authority?! It cost them real money that I'm sure most of their families didn't have to spend, ESPECIALLY this late in the month.

I'm saying...my bet is that many, if not most, of these kids come from homes where riding the bus is the common mode of transportation. Can you imagine the difficulties getting a parent down to spring 'em, especially if it is ONLY a single-parent household, and they happened to have to be at work that night?! It is short-sighted, and will have certain backlash, at least by positioning police as the bad guys once again...something we really don't need more of in the city.

My biggest complaint is the ambush of adding this at the last minute, where there simply was NO way everyone would know any form of curfew was in place. Has Detroit EVER had curfew without some significant riot/civil disturbance immediately before?! I cannot remember any precedent to this action.

While I understand why some think it is a good thing...and I can be convinced that it should be enforced all year long [[but not 6-to-6, but rather 11-to-5)...the application and follow-through last night was abominable.

Cheers anyways, it is another day.

[AGinthe313]

So a parent had to travel all the way down to SW Detroit to pick-up their
kid...welcome to being a responsible parent! And if these same parents work at
night, then they need to arrange for someone to keep an eye on their kids,
or check-in with someone. Just because a person works late hours, or is
single, or doesn't have any money doesn't mean that they get a pass on being
a parent. I live in the city, have a 14-year-old son [[who can take care of
himself), but I would never let him go downtown with a group of friends to see
the fireworks at 10:00 at night - and he's never been in any kind of trouble. I
guess we'll agree to disagree on this one.

[Gannon]

Only because you grew up learning HOW to parent. We don't disagree as wholly as it sounds, though.

I'm only saying it is no solution. As with everything else Beegod has done, it is only shifting the true responsibility...moving the problem temporarily. It is no solution, other than to make your night a wee bit less troublesome.

I cannot cheer it because of that.

Because this morning, the problem remains.

And because of this dragnet, some innocents now have a reason to be upset with authority...if not hate, which is where some egos seem to immediately rush.

We cannot afford any more of our younger generation viewing police as the enemy. It is bad enough their parents and grandparents maintain memories of when the hammer fell during the late sixties and early seventies.

Every action done by the cops should be viewed in this light. Every one.


But what do they do instead? Hide behind military tactics...even some of the most ancient ones. They brought fucking horses down for crowd control, and for the very first time in memory actually used them in an aggressive manner. Every time in the past, they were cutesy PR...ooh, look at the horses. Last night, they were not positioned for anything other than intimidation and a show of force. [[I did not witness a single innocent approach allowed as in the past, they were not allowing anyone to pet the horses, as far as I could tell)

That is bullshit. The whole militarization of a civilian police force is an example of how far authority is from understanding true solutions. It will lead to more bad shit...since a good percentage of police officers are merely large egos who should never be allowed to exist above the law as they do. The more time on the force, the more officers join this segment...as they get jaded from years of dealing with the dregs of society.

Add the Blue Wall of Silence actually protecting those shit-heels? That incriminates EVERY one of the MAJORITY of officers of the law who are ethical and good, otherwise.

Hear me clearly, I still think most cops are good and decent human beings. Most went into this profession with the best of intentions. But by even passively agreeing to cover up the actions of those bozos who abuse their powers, they include themselves in the group of the worst of 'em.

I say this to encourage good cops to root out the bad ones, simple as that. Too many misread my comments and conclude that I am against authority. I am not. I am only against the corrupt ones...and perhaps the simpletons and knee-jerks.

I'm still trying to figure out which column to file the Chief under...although it seems he just might be both.

Cheers

[corktownyuppie]

So a parent had to travel all the way down to SW Detroit to pick-up their
kid...welcome to being a responsible parent! And if these same parents work at
night, then they need to arrange for someone to keep an eye on their kids,
or check-in with someone. Just because a person works late hours, or is
single, or doesn't have any money doesn't mean that they get a pass on being
a parent. I live in the city, have a 14-year-old son [[who can take care of
himself), but I would never let him go downtown with a group of friends to see
the fireworks at 10:00 at night - and he's never been in any kind of trouble. I
guess we'll agree to disagree on this one.

The idea of letting a 16-year-old kid meet up with 10 other 16-year-old kids unsupervised at 10-11pm is totally ridiculous. The only way people learn to modify their behavior is if there are consequences for it. I'm not one of these "get tough on crime" guys, but you have to set limits on behavior. My only complaint is that we can't enforce the curfew more consistently throughout the year.

Hope the kids [[and their parents) got the message this time around.

[AGinthe313]

Hear me clearly, I still think most cops are good and decent human beings. Most went into this profession with the best of intentions. But by even passively agreeing to cover up the actions of those bozos who abuse their powers, they include themselves in the group of the worst of 'em.

The same kind of thing could be said about the youth of our city and their parents. The actions of a small number of kids, result in the entire group being labeled as trouble makers, when we all know that this is not the case. With that, everyone ends-up on the losing end. As for backlash down the road,
probably true - I can only speak for how I would react - and in this case I would be pissed at my son, and then myself for letting it happen. However, I'm guessing that most of the parents picking up their kids this morning were giving
the police hell - which will only perpetuate the community backlash - as these same kids see how their parents interact with police.

[Gannon]

Yeah, I'm only saying our experiences in life are not common throughout society.

The way we were raised and treated...the expectations and assumptions...are not ubiquitous.

Most of the kids I know in the city are being raised by their grandparents. On the whole, these children are exemplary. Amazing. Encouraging.

Its the ones without grandparents, or any significant parental interaction...they are the ones who exist as if they just escaped the island in the Lord of the Flies.

Funny that, another previous required read in schools. I'm betting this new generation has never even heard of it. Or any of Orwell's tomes.

<sigh>

[nain rouge]

I was downtown until about 6 or 7 PM, and thought it was ridiculous how all of the retail still closed down at 5 PM. This was a great chance for the plazas of places like the Guardian Building to show off to a captive audience of people from throughout region, but it seems as if the thought never crossed anyone's mind.

That's just one of the things that really bugs me about Detroit. There's a sense of complacency and almost hostility emanating from many businesses. Most should've been out hustling yesterday until at least 8 or 9 PM!

[SWMAP]

Beegod? Gannon keeps using that word. I can't figure it all out.
What is Beegod?

And Gannon writes thusly:

That is bullshit. The whole militarization of a civilian police force is an example of how far authority is from understanding true solutions.

Here I think HE is confused. The DPD has described itself for my entire lifetime as a "para-military" department. This is not a volunteer fire department. These guys are trained in military fashion. They have specialties in diving, climbing, anti-terrorism, etc. They are trained sharpshooters and many have high FBI and other clearances.

According to Justice Department studies, a municipal police department spends and average of $36,000 per trainee [[U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies, 2002, 5).

The DPD is para-military and makes no bones about it. Perhaps Gannon misunderstands it's role.

[AGinthe313]

Its the ones without grandparents, or any significant parental interaction...they are the ones who exist as if they just escaped the island in the Lord of the Flies.

Funny that, another previous required read in schools. I'm betting this new generation has never even heard of it. Or any of Orwell's tomes.

<sigh>

LOL - you're probably right!

[Gannon]

They should never call themselves POLICE then.

I started calling the Chief that when I mistyped his name earlier in this thread, then liked the allusion.

I learned the Chief is also a Pastor of a church in town, at least a co-Pastor. I've NEVER seen this reported, and wonder why he feels the need to hide it.

I don't trust those who hide their affiliations.

His actions indicate that he wants to BE God. Thinks he can be, at least, which is one of the odd results for some of those who remain stuck within Christianity. I mean those who insist that all other spiritual paths are invalid, which simply cannot be the case. I used to think so, too, when I was an immature Christian with a dim understanding of history and spirituality.

Who else would suggest towing innocent's vehicles because they dared to park in a part of town his officers couldn't ever seem to police?! That action alone was pretty telling, and I haven't been able to see past it yet.

He never faced up to his collaborations with Kwhyme, including organizing one of the 'cash-only' parties in support of our disgraced ex-Mayor. [[as far as I know)

His very public anti-drug effort only snagged six hundred street-level boys whose choice to sell nickel and dime bags is based upon their need to survive. They got maybe six vehicles and even fewer guns, if memory serves...and very little money even...which proved they never got close to the suppliers. It was a huge failure, only moving the problem temporarily...and maintaining the ILLUSION that this lingering prohibition is doing anything positive.

Then his backing of that silly-ass gunshot detection system in only ten square miles of neighborhoods...again, only moving the problems, not solving them. I keep remembering more, but i will stop with this one.

I don't trust the man, and as in the past...I will show it by manipulating his name. I'm not sure why I let Mayor Bong go back to being Bing, actually.

But Bill Shuette became Bull Shitte in this thread as well...because he's proven that is all he is, a steaming pile of bull excrement.

Until something happens positive from 1300, Godbee will remain Beegod to me.

As for the militarization of the officers of the law? They should be honest and change the name of the force then. Because they are no longer policing anything.


Cheers!

[Farnsworthfarms]

I was pisseed that the 'extra' police help was only used to intimidate and close of public areas...I felt so much safer sitting in the middle of a street...blocked in by state officers, no wait I did not. This year was the worst fireworks ever and I see a big part of that being GM/REN cen...to close of the riverwalk is like not having courst side seats at the basketball game. This is bull, Detroiters should not feel like strangers in our own city.