Bogus 911 call reveals theft in Detroit neighborhood

[superduperman]

Wow....
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/B...z/-/index.html

[Crumbled_pavement]

Bankruptcy is Detroit's only solution. The more it is delayed the longer the city suffers. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and let's get the ball moving.

[Detroitej72]

Bankruptcy is Detroit's only solution. The more it is delayed the longer the city suffers. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and let's get the ball moving.

As much as I hate to say it, I'm starting to agree with your statement.

[wolverine]

Bankruptcy is Detroit's only solution. The more it is delayed the longer the city suffers. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and let's get the ball moving.

Somethings has got to happen. Unbelievable people got to live this. My patience ends when police fail to arrive within 20 minutes of a non emergency call. Emergency, they should be there in 5 minutes....everytime. That's the way it works. But for inexcusable reasons, it's happening in Detroit, and the citizens are suffering.

[313WX]

I agree with the other responses.

In no other major American city would this be acceptable.

[jpbollma]

Somethings has got to happen. Unbelievable people got to live this. My patience ends when police fail to arrive within 20 minutes of a non emergency call. Emergency, they should be there in 5 minutes....everytime. That's the way it works. But for inexcusable reasons, it's happening in Detroit, and the citizens are suffering.

I really think we should be able to move the national guard into cities like Detroit, Chicago, Oakland ect. This shit has got to stop. Cerfews, zero tolerance, breaking teeth. The poo-pooing and throwing in jail for a night [[the less than 30% who are actually caught) is never going to solve the problem. It boils my blood as well when people say that these animals do this because they grew up poor.

Boo Hoo, half of my family grew up poor, used pell grants affordable housing ect as an avenue to get a degree and a job. Not sit around on the east side of some city firebombing, looting, and killing.

No more excuses, bring in the state police or the national guard and crack some skulls. Give Detroiters a stand your ground protection that includes protecting your property. This is absolute bullshit. I am one of those people that is moving downtown where it is nice and safe, but it is so unfair that as a new resident I will get more protection than someone who has paid their dues to this city for decades.

[jpbollma]

I really think we should be able to move the national guard into cities like Detroit, Chicago, Oakland ect. This shit has got to stop. Cerfews, zero tolerance, breaking teeth. The poo-pooing and throwing in jail for a night [[the less than 30% who are actually caught) is never going to solve the problem. It boils my blood as well when people say that these animals do this because they grew up poor.

Boo Hoo, half of my family grew up poor, used pell grants affordable housing ect as an avenue to get a degree and a job. Not sit around on the east side of some city firebombing, looting, and killing.

No more excuses, bring in the state police or the national guard and crack some skulls. Give Detroiters a stand your ground protection that includes protecting your property. This is absolute bullshit. I am one of those people that is moving downtown where it is nice and safe, but it is so unfair that as a new resident I will get more protection than someone who has paid their dues to this city for decades.

And for the record, I am completely apprehensive about stand your ground...but in a city where the government has basically told it's tax paying citizens "fuck you", I see no option other than state intervention, National Guard, or Wild Wild West.

[313WX]

...but in a city where the government has basically told it's tax paying citizens "fuck you", I see no option other than state intervention...

It's the state who ultimately forced the gun to the head of Detroit's government and told it to tell its citizens to "fuck off!!!"

Let's just set the record straight.

Every time [[*EVERY* time) the state of Michigan calls itself helping Detroit, Detroit ends up WORSE off than it was before.

Nothing short of federal intervention will help most Detroit, as the Dan Gilberts have made it blatantly clear that only midtown/downtown is their concern.

[jpbollma]

It's the state who ultimately forced the gun to the head of Detroit's government and told it to tell its citizens to "fuck off!!!"

Let's just set the record straight.

Every time [[*EVERY* time) the state of Michigan calls itself helping Detroit, Detroit ends up WORSE off than it was before.

Nothing short of federal intervention will help most Detroit, as the Dan Gilberts have made it blatantly clear that only midtown/downtown is their concern.

I'm not trying to be argumentative because I don't know all there is to know..but how is the state holding the gun to Detroit's head? Didn't Detroit run up its own untenable debt levels? What specifically in the past has the state done that has screwed over the city? I would say the cities big problems were 1960's racism that led to flight, and the rampant crime, along with city government corruption. I would like to see the governor or the feds dedicate a large security force of police or whoever to the city. I mean large, as in 1-2,000. Clean this shit up instead of dragging it out for years.

[illwill]

I feel a class war brewing in the city.

So now we have a class war involving the city government vs.state government, you have low-to-no income class, working class, racial class,corporate class, downtown class, artistic class, the local political class andNONE of these individual classes can seem to get on the same agenda to move thecity forward. This is nothing new and has ALWAYS been Detroit'sproblem...nothing new.

When I look at other cities with VERY strong Mayors such asMichael Bloomberg, Rahm Emanuel, Corey Booker and Michael Nutter of Philly,these guys put their foot down hard! They make the unpopular decisions thatpiss people off. But in the end, their agenda is passed and they move on to thenext issue. No stalling and sitting around for decades at a time. Here inDetroit, there is always a stalemate or a stand-off between Mayor and Council.Now it's happening between State and City. In the meantime, people are leavingthe city, businesses are throwing in the towel and other investors move to theburbs or out of state. I'll tell you how impossible it is for Detroit tocomplete a project. Look at the M-1 rail line. I'm not putting this all on thecity of Detroit but the Federal Transportation Department too. To give you anidea how difficult it is to get a major project completed...Detroit'swealthiest investors as a team couldn't even get the job done. That was theclosest Detroit will ever come to getting mass transit and it failed miserably.Why wasn't Dave Bing throwing a tantrum in the face of Ray LaHood? Why wasn'the trying to cut some creative-ass schiesty deals? I know Rahm Emanuel wouldhave been crafting the craziest of ideas to get what he wanted. Especially ifhe were that close to getting it done. Where is the M-1 group now? I have ahunch that the M-1 investors got the wind knocked out of them and the projecthas been shelved. Even Dan "the man" Gilbert couldn't get it done.This has ALWAYS been the story of Detroit. Remember when Michael Jackson wantedto invest in Detroit DURING THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREER and the city ran him outof town? Do you remember when Detroit's native son Don Barden was run out oftown after trying to invest in his home town? This city is like pond water andpond water don't move.

[Crumbled_pavement]

This is why I wish the city would hurry up and file bankruptcy, tear down the existing organizational structure COMPLETELY, and rebuild brand new. Some DYes posters crack me up. I wonder if they even bother to read the stories they comment on. We don't need Navy Seals to police Detroit, we just need the police to show up. These criminals did what they did because NO police showed up at all, not because we didn't have a UN taskforce storming in.

[grumpyoldlady]

It is ALL of those "classes" versus the "NO CLASS Class".

[jpbollma]

This is why I wish the city would hurry up and file bankruptcy, tear down the existing organizational structure COMPLETELY, and rebuild brand new. Some DYes posters crack me up. I wonder if they even bother to read the stories they comment on. We don't need Navy Seals to police Detroit, we just need the police to show up. These criminals did what they did because NO police showed up at all, not because we didn't have a UN taskforce storming in.

I will assume you are responding to me. From my understanding the city police have been cut consistently. I didn't say Navy Seals, that is a bit dramatic. A bankrupt city would do nothing to fix this problem. City debt is not the same as personal debt. The city will owe it's creditors and that money will come at the expense of city service. It would also tank it's credit. How do you think a population of 700k will react to NO police or trash pick up or firefighters, an emergency manager from the state, and at least 50% of city jobs cut, those not cut would see massive pay/benefit cuts. There would be riots. In my opinion the city needs jobs training along with law and order.

[jpbollma]

The magic of municipal bankruptcy.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/11/156621...res-bankruptcy

There is a reason no Democrat or Republican governor wants bankruptcy in Detroit. It would be a disaster.

[Debbie]

Maybe you should live in Flint...gunshots, death, they don't show til next day. Federal cuts, then State... This is what happens when the people lose power. As in "this is not what we the people chose" Am I right??!!! Sadly goes back to the ole boys George, Abraham, etc...

[Debbie]

Go to Flint...way worse...if you can believe...yes, it is They respond 24-48 hrs later...there are only 3 on staff.

[downtownguy]

Bankruptcy is Detroit's only solution. The more it is delayed the longer the city suffers. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and let's get the ball moving.

I hear this over and over again. But I have yet to hear how this is going to make things better in Detroit.

For example, this excerpt from the NPR interview cited by jpbollma above:

For example, when the city of Vallejo declared bankruptcy, they had to balance the budget. They were spending more each year than they were bringing in.

The result, they closed three out of eight fire stations. And that increased the response time to respond to a medical emergency or a fire. They kept the fire department by 42 percent of the number of employees they had. The police department, they reduced the number of sworn officers from 155 down to 90. They cut the department by 47 percent. Now, they still have to provide police protection and fire protection and medical protection and garbage and everything else that a city is responsible for. But they have less assets to do it with.

--Phil Batchelor, former interim city manager for Vallejo, California, hired in 2010 to help that city escape bankruptcy

Is bankruptcy the only solution for the long term? OK, let's say it is. But it certainly won't improve police or fire services, which the OP highlighted. I'm afraid too many people think things will begin to improve dramatically and quickly if the city declares bankruptcy, yet what I read suggests it will get worse before it gets better and it will take a long, long time.

That's why I'm asking, is there a better way?

[iheartthed]

Bankruptcy is Detroit's only solution. The more it is delayed the longer the city suffers. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and let's get the ball moving.

I'm not so sure that the city will be better off after a bankruptcy. It's hard to imagine it getting worse, but it's also not a guaranteed panacea... Well, I don't think bankruptcy is a panacea at all.

I was reading about Stockton, CA's bankruptcy, which is to date the largest American city to have ever gone bankrupt, and the situation there basically sounds like Detroit now. So yeah, from a resident standpoint, it probably can't get much worse. If Detroit does go bankrupt, the real show will be how Detroit owned assets [[zoo, DIA, Cobo, etc.) get chopped up to pay for the city's liabilities. That's the biggest threat to Detroit's "jewels".

[TKshreve]

Maybe you should live in Flint...gunshots, death, they don't show til next day. Federal cuts, then State... This is what happens when the people lose power. As in "this is not what we the people chose" Am I right??!!! Sadly goes back to the ole boys George, Abraham, etc...

IMO this is what happens when you siphon a major portion of manufacturing out of a state that was built upon........ wait for it..... MANUFACTURING.

And if you feel like looking deeper into the problem, ask yourselves:

Why did that manufacturing leave?

Whose was responsible for that manufacturing leaving?

You can easily associate a lot of our State's and City's problems to the loss of jobs, wages and benefits.

[SWMAP]

Before this story completely morphs into another bankruptcy discussion I want to say that i am disgusted by the actions of the car renter in calling AFTER THE TIRE STEALER HAS LEFT a false and terrible alarm about a body in the car - as if a murder had occurred. She tied up VERY SCARCE resources in the City to get her way.

When my tires were being stolen one night I used the alarm on my key fob and called a few neighbors. Lights started to go on and other car alarms started and the guy melted away. By the way, I live alone but I wasn't too afraid to do at least that basic citizen action.

Instead, these incapable ladies called the police - even in the better times in Detroit the police would have taken more than a few minutes to arrive for a car B&E - and then, because they are apparently princesses, thought nothing of calling in a blatant and inexcusable lie and then calling the news media to further emphasize the relatively small indignation they suffered as princesses. Like everyone else, they could have made a simple police report once the tires were gone.

So - I guess I am in the minority here. But I do live and work in Detroit and I have suffered many indignations and I have never dreamed of lying to increase the attention I would get.

[illwill]

If BR is not the solution then I'd like to hear some of yoursolutions? I think BR IS the answer. Things are going to have to get worsebefore they get better. We already know this but EVERYONE needs to see and knowwhat's really on the financial books in city hall. The people of Detroit andthe State need transparency. Detroit is MISMANAGED. They city is lost, they'rehiding things, they're not taking advantage of federal dollars being offered,they're sweeping stuff under the rugs, they're robbing peter to paypaul...there is absolutely no structure in city hall. Finances are out ofcontrol in Detroit.

Things will get worse in Detroit but Detroit has a core ofcommitted residents who are in the fight no matter what. It's only fair thatthe citizens know where the city stands.

You read in the paper daily about our cultural institutionsare running day-to-day. No one knows if police and fire are cutting one day orgetting assistance the next. I think BR will at least give the city an honestassessment of where Detroit sits financial, instead of NO ONE not reallyknowing.

[313WX]

I'm not so sure that the city will be better off after a bankruptcy. It's hard to imagine it getting worse, but it's also not a guaranteed panacea... Well, I don't think bankruptcy is a panacea at all.

I was reading about Stockton, CA's bankruptcy, which is to date the largest American city to have ever gone bankrupt, and the situation there basically sounds like Detroit now. So yeah, from a resident standpoint, it probably can't get much worse. If Detroit does go bankrupt, the real show will be how Detroit owned assets [[zoo, DIA, Cobo, etc.) get chopped up to pay for the city's liabilities. That's the biggest threat to Detroit's "jewels".

No one can force Detroit to chop any assets in bankruptcy.

Under the CA/EM, they're fair game.

[Shollin]

Before this story completely morphs into another bankruptcy discussion I want to say that i am disgusted by the actions of the car renter in calling AFTER THE TIRE STEALER HAS LEFT a false and terrible alarm about a body in the car - as if a murder had occurred. She tied up VERY SCARCE resources in the City to get her way.

When my tires were being stolen one night I used the alarm on my key fob and called a few neighbors. Lights started to go on and other car alarms started and the guy melted away. By the way, I live alone but I wasn't too afraid to do at least that basic citizen action.

Instead, these incapable ladies called the police - even in the better times in Detroit the police would have taken more than a few minutes to arrive for a car B&E - and then, because they are apparently princesses, thought nothing of calling in a blatant and inexcusable lie and then calling the news media to further emphasize the relatively small indignation they suffered as princesses. Like everyone else, they could have made a simple police report once the tires were gone.

So - I guess I am in the minority here. But I do live and work in Detroit and I have suffered many indignations and I have never dreamed of lying to increase the attention I would get.

Hell when I lived in Harper Woods it took the cops a bit to get to my house when someone was breaking into my garage. I turned on the flood lights in my back yard and aimed my son's BB gun at him and he took off like he was shot out of a cannon.

[iheartthed]

No one can force Detroit to chop any assets in bankruptcy.

Under the CA/EM, they're fair game.

That's not true. When an entity files bankruptcy it essentially relinquishes control of its assets.

[313WX]

That's not true. When an entity files bankruptcy it essentially relinquishes control of its assets.

Do you know anything about Chapter 9 bankruptcy? It works a little differently than a bankruptcy for an individual or private business.

Try doing a little research on it, then get back to me.