James Craig + Kevyn Orr = More cops on the street?

[corktownyuppie]

Something tells me there's gonna be some major changes at DPD, and very soon.

- Orr makes hiring a police chief a priority even though it was politically unpopular and thought by many to be out of his jurisdiction in finances.

- Orr mentions that despite needs for efficiency and cost cutting all across the city, the one place that needs [[and perhaps get?) more resources will be in public safety.

- James Craig combines the credibility of a homegrown Detroiter but has decades of experience in turning around troubled police departments.

- Craig worked in high profile departments like LAPD and is intimately familiar with gang violence, the need for community involvement, contemporary techniques to let crime data guide resource allocation, and dealing with police morale issues.

- Craig mentions in no fewer than 4 media interviews that every single sworn officer needs to be on the street and makes no apologies for saying that all administrative jobs should be performed by civilians.

- Orr and Craig met for several hours prior to his hiring, discussing Orr's power to unilaterally re-write all the work rules and union contracts.

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I'm not saying that unicorns are prancing up and down the Detroit river... but this might be the right combination of political power, outsider perspective, along with homegrown credibility.

I guess we'll just have to see.