Three Grosse Pointe Teens had bounty put on their heads for vandalism by Gilbert.

[brizee]

Hopefully they're charged as adults and receive the longest allowable sentence.

http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/...s#.U7RpK7E5tkE

[Detroitnerd]

http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/...s#.U7RpK7E5tkE

Hopefully they're charged as adults and receive the longest allowable sentence.

What's the message here, though? Don't fuck with Dan Gilbert? Because that's kind of what it looks like. You can tag the homes of hardworking people in the city and get away clear, but if you tag a person with means and connections, you're going down?

I normally agree with you, Briz. Maybe I'm just seeing this through the prism of the law hitting you depending on who you are and who you hit. They'll probably get probation and that's probably all they deserve, if it's their first offense and they come forward.

[mwilbert]

What's the message here, though? Don't fuck with Dan Gilbert? Because that's kind of what it looks like. You can tag the homes of hardworking people in the city and get away clear, but if you tag a person with means and connections, you're going down?

I suspect the big difference here is security cameras. Most hardworking people don't have video of the taggers. But of course, it is better not to piss off people who are in a position to retaliate.

[brizee]

What's the message here, though? Don't fuck with Dan Gilbert? Because that's kind of what it looks like. You can tag the homes of hardworking people in the city and get away clear, but if you tag a person with means and connections, you're going down?

I normally agree with you, Briz. Maybe I'm just seeing this through the prism of the law hitting you depending on who you are and who you hit. They'll probably get probation and that's probably all they deserve, if it's their first offense and they come forward.

I do sometimes wonder if Gilbert is getting sweetheart deals and media coverage vs actually having vision.

But when it comes to vandals and hooligans I have no love. It's fucked a billionaire has to throw his weight around, just like it's fucked that all those homeowners had to take the lives of those invading their homes.

Get creative.

Make their sentences [[however long) ironic.

Tag a building or house? Serve your days/months in that alley.

Stuff a bunch of tires into an abandoned building? You serve your time in that structure, tires exactly as you put them.

Arson? Live the rest of your life in the burned out hulk. Don't have a roof? Tough.

I'm mostly joking but I'm just sick of this town being used as a toilet and if extreme measures have to be taken for people to get the message...

[Detroitnerd]

I can see that.

I do sometimes wonder if Gilbert is getting sweetheart deals and media coverage vs actually having vision.

But when it comes to vandals and hooligans I have no love. It's fucked a billionaire has to throw his weight around, just like it's fucked that all those homeowners had to take the lives of those invading their homes.

Get creative.

Make their sentences [[however long) ironic.

Tag a building or house? Serve your days/months in that alley.

Stuff a bunch of tires into an abandoned building? You serve your time in that structure, tires exactly as you put them.

Arson? Live the rest of your life in the burned out hulk. Don't have a roof? Tough.

I'm mostly joking but I'm just sick of this town being used as a toilet and if extreme measures have to be taken for people to get the message...

Right on. I understand why you feel the way you do.

I like your creative sentences. They remind me of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Super

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

I do sometimes wonder if Gilbert is getting sweetheart deals and media coverage vs actually having vision.

Dan Gilbert would still be very rich and very successful if he never spent a penny in or on Detroit. I do think he will make money on his investments here. But I suspect he makes money on most of his investments, wherever he locates them. Does the man get lots of great press? Sure. But his work downtown has been truly transformative. His vision is: if you build it, they will come. He has been a-buildin', and the people are a-comin'. A great many of the people living or working or visiting downtown would not be there because of DG directly or indirectly. And he has much more in the works, that we know about. Lord only knows what he has planned but has not yet announced.

Oh, and my recommended punishment for taggers? Put an ugly tattoo they don't want on their forehead. When they clean up what they did, make restitution, and wait the same number of days between the offense and the clean up, the tattoo can be removed.

[Detroitnerd]

Dan Gilbert would still be very rich and very successful if he never spent a penny in or on Detroit. I do think he will make money on his investments here. But I suspect he makes money on most of his investments, wherever he locates them. Does the man get lots of great press? Sure. But his work downtown has been truly transformative. His vision is: if you build it, they will come.

His practice is, if I buy it, give me a tax abatement. Then, after the wealth is transferred from the poorest to my pockets, I'll handle the public realm too, unaccountably, with all that sweet money you essentially gave me.

Call it philanthropitalism.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

His practice is, if I buy it, give me a tax abatement. Then, after the wealth is transferred from the poorest to my pockets, I'll handle the public realm too, unaccountably, with all that sweet money you essentially gave me.

Call it philanthropitalism.

Are the poor paying income taxes and current on their property taxes? Nothing is being "taken from the poor" because they don't have anything to give, logically. Thus, poverty. Please let me know the names and addresses of the poor who are having the hard-earned cash in their wallet handed to Dan Gilbert and I will gladly reimburse them.

That having been said, I am not for tax breaks/credits/abatements for anyone. There should just be very low rates that everyone has to pay. That is both fairer and makes the collection of revenue more stable and less economically destructive [[although all taxation is at least a little harmful).

[Scottathew]

What's the message here, though? Don't fuck with Dan Gilbert? Because that's kind of what it looks like. You can tag the homes of hardworking people in the city and get away clear, but if you tag a person with means and connections, you're going down?

What's your problem? Seriously, I don't get it.

So a downtown businessman catches some folks that did vandalism downtown and you're pissed that he isn't out in the neighborhoods trying to catch other vandals?

The law is going to hit this people because THEY ARE ON VIDEO TAPE AND HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED.

Out in the neighborhoods there are not video cameras covering every square inch.


Some vandals got caught and are going to be punished, stop whining. This is why Detroit can't move forward, because some people will NEVER EVER be happy.

[stinkytofu]

What's your problem? Seriously, I don't get it.

So a downtown businessman catches some folks that did vandalism downtown and you're pissed that he isn't out in the neighborhoods trying to catch other vandals?

The law is going to hit this people because THEY ARE ON VIDEO TAPE AND HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED.

Out in the neighborhoods there are not video cameras covering every square inch.


Some vandals got caught and are going to be punished, stop whining. This is why Detroit can't move forward, because some people will NEVER EVER be happy.

I'm perplexed as well. That rant was nonsensical.

[Detroitnerd]

What's your problem? Seriously, I don't get it.

And I know why you don't get it. Because the issues make you uncomfortable so you'd rather not examine them. And that, my friend, is why you will never, ever get it.

[stinkytofu]

And I know why you don't get it. Because the issues make you uncomfortable so you'd rather not examine them. And that, my friend, is why you will never, ever get it.

No, because your obvious dislike of Gilbert clearly blurs your viewpoint of this specific situation of a private citizen using his cameras on his private buildings to ask his employees to identify individuals who have vandalized his property. Go off on Gilbert being greedy or whatever you want, but realize it has jack squat to do with this story.

[Detroitnerd]

No, because your obvious dislike of Gilbert clearly blurs your viewpoint of this specific situation of a private citizen using his cameras on his private buildings to ask his employees to identify individuals who have vandalized his property. Go off on Gilbert being greedy or whatever you want, but realize it has jack squat to do with this story.

That's funny. When I raised my point initially with Briz, he seemed to understand exactly what I was saying. And I understood his point. So it seems to me the problem lies somewhere else.

I understand that you'd want to take a serious criticism of Gilbert's business practices and cast them in an emotional light, but that's not the case. I don't hate Gilbert. I may see his business practices as ultimately destructive to the city, but that's quite different from hating the man.

Speaking of people who are filled with hate to where it blinds them, have you checked a mirror or other reflective surface lately?

[Scottathew]

And I know why you don't get it. Because the issues make you uncomfortable so you'd rather not examine them. And that, my friend, is why you will never, ever get it.

I did examine them, but you didn't quote or respond to most of my comment, you just cherry picked one sentence and then YOU proceeded not to examine the issue.

You're claiming that Dan Gilbert is getting special treatment because he's Dan Gilbert. I think he's getting special treatment because he has:

1) Pictures of the girls who did it
2) Videos of them vandalizing the buildings
3) Identified the people who did it

Out in the neighborhoods you have:

1) Generally pictures of criminals in the act
2) Generally no video of a crime while it happens
3) You may or may not know who did it, but even if you did you don't have evidence
4) A no-snitch policy

So once again, you're upset the bad people were caught and are possibly going to be punished for vandalizing a building in Detroit.

DetroitNerd, I challenge you to cite a recent example where an ordinary person has come to the Detroit Police with such a wealth of evidence and didn't get a response.

I can cite two recent examples to the contrary where video evidence helped the DPD catch criminals; [[1) the Utash beating and [[2) the gay pride beating.

Also, the title of this thread is way off-base, as Gilbert did not offer cash or any kind of reward or bounty to anyone. What he offered was the opportunity to assist in the prosecution of vandals, and his employees seemed to be more than willing to do it for free because it was the right thing to do.

Thank goodness they were white suburban girls, because I think people would be even more upset if they were black kids from the city. Meanwhile, all the people that actually want Detroit to succeed are happy that those that vandalized a downtown building are going to meet justice.

[mwilbert]

http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/...s#.U7RpK7E5tkE

Hopefully they're charged as adults and receive the longest allowable sentence.

Unless they have a record of other bad behavior, they aren't going to get anything more severe than community service. A lot of it, I hope.

[Bham1982]

Aren't these artists part of the hip creative class Gilbert is hell-bent on subsidiz- I mean attracting?

He should give them an award for engaging their creative talents in Detroit instead of Brooklyn or Berlin...

[jt1]

1500 hours community service for each of them. The time can be spent cleaning graffiti or dump sites in the city. Jail certainly isn't appropriate but a huge amount of community service might set a bit of an example.

I'm sure they'll get 30 days probation, a $100 fine and their parents will be outraged since the city has bigger problems.

[Honky Tonk]

1500 hours community service for each of them. The time can be spent cleaning graffiti or dump sites in the city. Jail certainly isn't appropriate but a huge amount of community service might set a bit of an example.

I'm sure they'll get 30 days probation, a $100 fine and their parents will be outraged since the city has bigger problems.

I disagree. Jail time and throw the book @ them. The next tagging a-ho will think twice. Part of the problem is no serious repercussions, so it's open house on Detroit.

[jt1]

I disagree. Jail time and throw the book @ them. The next tagging a-ho will think twice. Part of the problem is no serious repercussions, so it's open house on Detroit.

I think a full time job for 9 months of community service is a pretty big repercussion. That said, I'd have no qualms with jail to set an example.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

...and their parents will be outraged since the city has bigger problems.

This is the ultimate problem. I'm not super old, but when I was a kid, your parents were harder on you than the police. Now, they defend you when they should punish you. Same with school discipline. In sixth grade I got into a [[relatively minor) fight and was given detention. My mom was MUCH harder on me than the school was. Nowadays, the outraged parents would be hiring a lawyer to sue the school for the unfair punishment and for fostering an unsafe environment. Some parents really suck.

[GUSHI]

the Pussification of America

This is the ultimate problem. I'm not super old, but when I was a kid, your parents were harder on you than the police. Now, they defend you when they should punish you. Same with school discipline. In sixth grade I got into a [[relatively minor) fight and was given detention. My mom was MUCH harder on me than the school was. Nowadays, the outraged parents would be hiring a lawyer to sue the school for the unfair punishment and for fostering an unsafe environment. Some parents really suck.

[cjd]

Gilbert should just close off Jefferson so the GPers can't come in to Detroit. Maybe put up a 'farmer's market.'

The residents [[or corporate owners) of Detroit shouldn't have to put up with 'suburban youth' and their rowdiness.

[stinkytofu]

Aren't these artists part of the hip creative class Gilbert is hell-bent on subsidiz- I mean attracting?

He should give them an award for engaging their creative talents in Detroit instead of Brooklyn or Berlin...

Swing and a miss...

[Lowell]

Swing and a miss...

...swinging one's self out of the batters box...

[brizee]

Aren't these artists part of the hip creative class Gilbert is hell-bent on subsidiz- I mean attracting?

He should give them an award for engaging their creative talents in Detroit instead of Brooklyn or Berlin...