More cops should call Detroit home - Let WWW III Begin

[Crumbled_pavement]

Freep Editorial

^^^This editorial should get everyone on this forum nice and heated up. For the record, I agree with the premise of the writer. Let the fireworks begin . . .

[LodgeDodger]

Perhaps the Mayor should, too.

[unclefrank]

A cop's kid is sure safe in a Detroit public school!

[davewindsor]

Should have been done a long time ago.

[Gannon]

Shitty thread title. Might be the worst ever on this side of the forum...save maybe that fucking exclamation point one that someone just put up.

Come on, folks. HELP people find these discussions later, make the thread title at least SOMEWHAT indicative of the contents of the initial dialogue. Somewhat.


Trying to start a World War doesn't count.



I agree as well with Jeff Gerritt.

I'll add another, all city employees should get free transportation on the bus system, too. Every city employee issued a car should be FORCED to ride the bus, especially the executive branch and all the bus system execs!


I've always liked this fellow's writing, even when I've not agreed fully with his premise or conclusion.

[Gannon]

Oh, and can the Freep afford to send one of their photogs over to the Spirit and get an updated picture for their files, too?!


The shit-Spirit is now an obsolete image...

[ThaFuzz]

Freep Editorial

^^^This editorial should get everyone on this forum nice and heated up. For the record, I agree with the premise of the writer. Let the fireworks begin . . .

Yes, this issue has not in any way been succeeded by more vital DPD topics, like the Manoogian Mansion party, the forensic lab scandal, the nosediving morale following the appointment of Warren Evans, etc.

[crawford]

Why? Why can't they live where they want to live?

Few people want to live in Detroit. Many cops will lie about their addresses anyways.

[Gannon]

the nosediving morale following the appointment of Warren Evans

I was wondering how the rank-and-file felt about this, thanks.

[lilpup]

Who wants to be on-call 24/7/365??

[iheartthed]

I support the city's right to require employees to maintain residence in the city, but I don't think that living in the city is a necessity for a police force to be effective.

Of course, as a cop, you do need to have knowledge of the community that you serve, but this is a training issue, not a residency issue. Besides, if cops were required to live in the city, they would generally be attracted to living in certain areas. Few, if any, would live in Brightmoor or the area around Dexter and Linwood. So how would a cop who lives at Curtis and Wyoming be any more knowledgeable about those areas than a cop who lives in Redford Twp?

[REL]

Oh, SNAP, Lodgedodger!

[davewindsor]

Who wants to be on-call 24/7/365??

Ask any of the hundreds of residential landlords on this site this question. Water pipe breaks at 2am the morning or someone throws a beer bottle at a tenant's windows and shatters their window, who you gonna call to fix it? If we do it, so can the cops.

[jtf1972]

To those who say the cops should be able to live anywhere they want... If you found out that the police in your suburb took the attitude that there was no way in hell they would live anywhere near where you do, would you want your tax dollars to pay the salary that allowed them to live as far from you as they could get?

Funny that it's about 45% of the city's cops that feel Detroit unworthy of their residence. I wonder what that 45% approximately mirrors.

If you don't like the city, hand in your badge & gun. Let someone who cares replace you.

[reddog289]

As a worker in a suburban school district I chose to live in the district I work in.Before being employed for the district I toyed with the idea of living in Detroit and even Howell.. When there were requirements it seemed that areas of the city were in better shape.Yet I myself could see the employees reason for not wanting to live in the city.The school system needs to be overhauled bigtime. If it were in better shape it would not be in the news for the last 25 or so years.One employee cannot police the whole city and also the fact that most employees seemed to stay in the same area does not benefit the city as whole.But in my opinion I do not belive making the police,fire, or other city workers live in the city would make a differance.Non city workers do this to avoid paying taxes. This would go back to the days of 4police officers sharing a one bedroom apt.The city itself needs to get its act together to make itself attractive to city workers as well as non city workers.

[Meddle]

I've always supported Residency for government employees, but that battle was fought and lost decades ago and supported by some court rulings.

[rid0617]

We were always required to live in the city we worked for. We also had take home cars. The thinking was a cop living in the neighborhood was a crime prevention move. Cop cars in driveways have that tendency.

[sumas]

Suprise, suprise, I am a very opinioned person. Police residency is one issue that leaves me ambivelent. Police response sucked when residence was required and it still sucks now.

I read an article recently where a black mayor brought in a white police chief to the chagrin of the mostly black community. Crime dropped 38%. What they did? They simply realigned police scheduling. Most crime happens at night or on weekends. They put payroll to work and scheduled assignments for the high crime time.

I have a relative who is a Detroit police officer of ten years. This relative hasn't worked weekends or nights for eight of those ten years. Go figure.

[skyl4rk]

The state legislature made it illegal for a city to require employees to live in its boundaries. If you want to change this, look toward Lansing.

[crawford]

If you don't like the city, hand in your badge & gun. Let someone who cares replace you.

What sort of logic is this? Only people who live within city limits can like the city? Everyone else hates it?

I don't live in Paris. Does this mean I hate Paris? Heck, I'm sure many Parisians hate the city they live in. One's residence does not necessarily correlate with one's likes, preferences, or biases.

A good cop is a good cop, and hard to find. I don't care if they live on 7 Mile or 9 Mile. I care if they do a good job.

Considering that most people do not want to live in Detroit [[when they had the requirement, tons of cops illegally lived outside the city and just kept an empty apartment in the city), all you would do with such a requirement is decrease the quality of the police force.

[crawford]

Also, take a look at city residency requirements nationwide. There does not appear to be a correlation between city residency requirements and successful policing.

NYC has no city residency requirements for most its city workers, including its police. Yet it has the largest crime decreases of any major city in the country. LA also does not have a requirement, and has been very successful.

Philly does have city residency requirements, and has had huge problems with corrpution, cop shootings, and race-based police stops. They also have had very modest decreases in crime. Philly is very dangerous. It actually had more murders than NYC for most of 2008 [[and NYC has nearly 8.4 million while Philly has 1.5 million).

Chicago has city residency requirements, and while more successful than Philly on a per capita basis, has more murders than anywhere else in the nation.

[Corktown Mark]

right on Skyl4rk. Lansing should return the control of residency rules to the collective bargaining process where virtually all of Michigan's Police Officers [[Union Members) can discuss with the cities that employee them. Each city and the their union represented employees should be allowed to work this out with out interference from big brother, in this case Lansing.

[jtf1972]

Considering that most people do not want to live in Detroit [[when they had the requirement, tons of cops illegally lived outside the city and just kept an empty apartment in the city), all you would do with such a requirement is decrease the quality of the police force.

Well, according to your logic the police who live in the city are of a lower quality than those who live outside of the city.

If this is the case, maybe we should outsource the entire department to suburban mercenaries who would never subject their families to the protection their colleagues provide.

I don't think that anyone in public service should look at their work as "just a job." Politicians, police, firemen... even garbage men should know that their work has an impact on the community. If they don't want to be a part of that community, maybe they should look for other work. Under your line of reason, Bing should never have been required to set up residence in Detroit. He could certainly do the same work as mayor while working from home in Franklin.

[SWMAP]

IMO Jeff gerrit should move into the City with his family. I know he dopesn't work for the city - but Time Magazine bought a house in the City and moved a reporter into it so they could cover the City very personally. Why not Gerrit as he is so free with his opinion.

I do live in the City and I completely understand why the police don't want to. Once a cop did live across the street. He was bothered and threatened all the time. Women who kept living with abusers would run over to his house when they were having domestuic trouble and expect him to come over with his gun! He would tell them to call 911 - why should he be policing when he is off-duty and by himself at that? Why can't people understand this???

[iheartthed]

IMO Jeff gerrit should move into the City with his family.

You must have missed this part:

[[And, yeah, I think journalists who write mainly about Detroit should live in the city, too; for the record, I do. I’ve heard journalists talk about Detroit as though it were another country, too. )