Detroit Police are big losers!

**sumas** · September-08-09, 04:00 AM

Got my purse stolen. No pfd other than my Id and maybe 4 dollars and some change. Longer story than I feel about writting. After waiting four hours for police to to show up to make a report, I just went to bed.

I am not planning on leaving the D. Its not their fault I got robbed. I am rethinking, however, tax moneys I pay for zero police response.

Lived in the burbs for a while, school issues. Reponse time for police was maybe five minutes. It just seems plain wrong that a healthy chunk of tax money goes to pay salary for idiots that don't give a shit about doing a job. One of those idiots is a relative. Happy they are doing well in their home in the burbs.

It is odd that I feel less animousity towards the perps than the no show police.

**daddeeo** · September-08-09, 07:24 AM

There is definitely a disconnect with reality and the image they like to show of "service, honor and protect".

**devman1983** · September-08-09, 07:27 AM

Sorry but your purse snatching was low on the priority list. Detroit police, with their limited resources, were out stopping fights, home invasions, crack deals, and other higher priority crimes. You can't blame the officers though, they are just doing their job the best they can. Plenty of other people to blame for no response.

Buy American · September-08-09, 07:32 AM

Do you really think that the DPD picks and chooses what runs to go to? One shift comes in and there is a backlog of runs from the night before. Yours is a low priority run...first the murders, home invasions, shootings, stabbings....then a stolen wallet. Sorry, but that's the way it is in Detroit. Tell Bing to hire more officers, that will definitely help...oh, and hire officers that don't have a felony record, that would be a huge help.

**gazhekwe** · September-08-09, 08:05 AM

It's too bad, Sumas, but nothing new. Even way back in the early 70s, we were told we had to come to the station to file a police report for a break-in at our apartment near Wayne State. We had nothing to steal, but we had to replace the padlock, and we got the big screwdriver the guy used to break in. The policeman laughed at us when we offered it for evidence so we kept it and still have it. [[I had picked it up with a cloth and wrapped it to preserve fingerprints. What a dummy!)

Then in the 90s, a car valet stole the speakers out of our car in southwest Detroit. We again had to go to the station to file a report :"for the insurance company." They actually said that, implying they weren't going to bother with it. We went back to the restaurant afterward, getting there at the same time as the now former valet's sister who brought the speakers back. So we had to go back and cancel the report. Someone later took the same speakers out of the car while we were eating in another restaurant in SW Detroit. A neighbor came in to alert people and husband went out and caught the people who had it. I was sure I was about to be widowed, but they came up with a creative excuse and gave the speakers back. Whew. We didn't bother the police about that one.

It was in the 70s when the police told my mom she should move to Dearborn. They did come to the house to take a report after her second break-in. Neighbors told her they knew who did it and were willing to say so to the police. Somehow it always seemed to me that they were happy to make an arrest if they saw something happening, but why bother if all you are going to do is take a report.

**DetroitPlanner** · September-08-09, 08:17 AM

I agree that the DPD are woefully understaffed. I've had to go to the precient house [[or whatever they call the regional station these days) to report a B and E /theft in my garage. I'm surprised that they did not tell you to come to the station to file your report.

Most cops want to do a good job or else they won't get hired by another agency [[its sad that it has come to this, but Detroit is a stepping stone to get onto another force). Chances are the police that responding to your issue in the burbs were once Detroit's finest.

**sumas** · September-08-09, 08:36 AM

Yeah, I know purse theft is low on the list for response. But really, they never even showed up. I went to bed but my husband stayed up. Cripes people, Detroit is not a hot bed of crime. We have no population left. Drug sales exist but who cares? Not the cops! Car and purse theft is common. Low or no income causes that. I just don't see police doing much of anything.

When we lived in GPP, my son' bike was stolen and retrieved before we knew it was missing!

I think it is time for Detroit residents to demand better services. What exempts Detroit cops from doing their job?

**noggin** · September-08-09, 09:00 AM

You Detroiters are just a bunch of crying whiners. The meter I parked in front of had expired for just 3 minutes and I was already written up for a ticket. Now that's good service!

Lorax · September-08-09, 09:22 AM

Yeah, when it comes to generating revenue, all cities are right on top of it. Parking meters, entrapment, moving violations, etc.

If they put as much effort into protecting the cars from break ins, there would be more of them using the meters in the first place. So they instead spend millions building ugly parking decks so they can gouge people on parking rates in a city that has no reason to park there in the first place. Genius.

I can park in the heart of Miami Beach at a city-owned deck for 1.00 per hour, and I can actually walk to a thousand different shops/restaurants. Admittedly the decks are piss-soaked, dirty and disgusting with broken elevators, but that's just good old city hall corruption at work, not because there is no money for maintenance. And the public is still only charged 1.00 per hour- more for special event parking. When the rates climb to Detroit's level, and the decks are still piss-soaked with broken elevators, there will still be places to go to once you park.

**Patrick** · September-08-09, 09:45 AM

That is why I won't live in the D anymore after calling the cops on several occasions only to have them not show up. Any the people in Detroit pay more in taxes than I do and the cops in the evil suburbs show up within minutes. That is now way to lie and the situation is not going to change even with stimulus funding.

Buy American · September-08-09, 10:03 AM

After training to become a Detroit Police officer, they are obligated to stay in Detroit for 2 years by contract. If they decide to leave for another department they have to pay for their training.

It's a matter of hiring more officers, having more cars on the streets, having better equipment to work with, bigger jails, better judges, more laws to protect the victims rather than the perps. Cut the fat at the top of Detroit's administration and cut the appointees perks and get your priorities straight....then, maybe things will turn around. It's not that the officers won't respond to minor things, it's that they can't because half the time they don't even know about them. They go where they are told to go, they respond when they are told to respond, ASAP. If they have hundreds of petty crimes to deal with it moves from one shift to the other.

**Bobl** · September-08-09, 10:45 AM

Buy American is correct.
In addition, a little more support from neighborhood residents would help. You see a crime, report it. Watch out for your neighbor. Escort the elderly person down the street to the pharmacy.
And somehow, parenting skills need to be taught. This is perhaps the most difficult task.
Do not blame the police. Blame the punks that commit the crime.

**SWMAP** · September-08-09, 10:58 AM

How/where was the handbag stole? From your car? Did someone climb in a window? Did someone knock you down and grab it?

I was jumped in front of Henry Ford Hospital once and my purse was grabbed. I called a friend and went to the precinct to make a police report. My purse was stolen from my unlocked car which was in front of my house. I never even thought to report that. I pretty much asked to give my purse away in that instance.

Smallish things you should just go to the precinct and report. However, if someone climbed in a window and took your purse - that merits a call for a squad car imo.

LouHat · September-08-09, 11:24 AM

Unreal. This guy just offered me four dollars to buy my house. I thought he was gay because he had a purse.

**punky1** · September-08-09, 11:44 AM

Go borrow a police scanner and listen to it for awhile. You can listen anytime, day or night and you will then get a more realistic idea of what they face every shift. One night I heard calls for officers to go to homes where neighbors were waving guns around threatening people, one man and his wife were hiding in their home because some perp was on their front porch threatening them with a knife, some teenager was running down the street with a gun threatening people, and one frustrated officer called back to the dispatcher and wanted to know "which call to go to first". I personally witnessed an alleged kidnapping in a downtown parking lot and the Detroit Police were there within seconds of the perps tearing out of the lot and didn't waste anytime taking statements, they took off with tires screeching. If you cannot borrow a scanner go to this website and you can listen to live feed of the DPS and Fire dept. The reception is not that good but you will get an idea of what they are up against. www.radioreference.com When you get there click on "Live Audio". You can listen to your heart's content all over the U.S.

**cub** · September-08-09, 12:15 PM

I was at church last Wednesday and three of our so called teenaged thugs were trying to steal a members car. Some of the kids from the church described the guys to me and I immediately knew who it was. The police came. I offered to take them to the guys house[[one block over) but they said there wa no need. I couldn't believe it. I get the fact that it wasn't technically a car theft, it would be called vandalism but come on.... they have someone who is willing to be a witness and point out a criminal and they dont even investigate.

**OriginalG313** · September-08-09, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by punky1

Go borrow a police scanner and listen to it for awhile. You can listen anytime, day or night and you will then get a more realistic idea of what they face every shift. One night I heard calls for officers to go to homes where neighbors were waving guns around threatening people, one man and his wife were hiding in their home because some perp was on their front porch threatening them with a knife, some teenager was running down the street with a gun threatening people, and one frustrated officer called back to the dispatcher and wanted to know "which call to go to first". I personally witnessed an alleged kidnapping in a downtown parking lot and the Detroit Police were there within seconds of the perps tearing out of the lot and didn't waste anytime taking statements, they took off with tires screeching. If you cannot borrow a scanner go to this website and you can listen to live feed of the DPS and Fire dept. The reception is not that good but you will get an idea of what they are up against. www.radioreference.com When you get there click on "Live Audio". You can listen to your heart's content all over the U.S.

On a similar note:
Citizens witness life as a cop

Academy in Spanish offers glimpse into officers' daily duties

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
Detroit -- Jesse Gonzales felt his heart race as he watched a Detroit Police officer attempt to frisk a man a tipster said had a hidden handgun.
As the man argued with the officer and the situation became more stressful, Gonzales said he, too, became more agitated during his ride-along with the officer as part of the department's Citizens Police Academy.
"The man would not believe that the officer got a call about him having a gun," Gonzales said. "He [[the officer) was just trying to do his job." ...

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...RO01/909070321

**Ray1936** · September-08-09, 12:29 PM

Hey, back in MY day, we were eager to respond to ALL calls. Things must have gone to shit since I left in '84...........

**daddeeo** · September-08-09, 12:46 PM

Amen to that Brother Ray.

Buy American · September-08-09, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Hey, back in MY day, we were eager to respond to ALL calls. Things must have gone to shit since I left in '84...........

Ray, you more than likely were the kind of cop Detroit needs today. You are the last of a dying breed.

Today, 25 years later, the City is left to fend for itself. Police are leaving for better jobs, retiring, or just quitting out of frustration. Detroit isn't hiring right now, the last class of cadets are about ready to graduate. Once they get on the street and the adrenaline they are feeling right now changes to disgust and fear, they will be leaving en masse, too.

Bobl, I agree with your post.

**cman710** · September-08-09, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by cub

I was at church last Wednesday and three of our so called teenaged thugs were trying to steal a members car. Some of the kids from the church described the guys to me and I immediately knew who it was. The police came. I offered to take them to the guys house[[one block over) but they said there wa no need. I couldn't believe it. I get the fact that it wasn't technically a car theft, it would be called vandalism but come on.... they have someone who is willing to be a witness and point out a criminal and they dont even investigate.

Cub, I have a feeling you would make a good police officer!

Seriously, I think that one problem with reducing crime is that there are not sufficient officers for them to get to know their neighborhoods. When you know a neighborhood, you can do what Cub did and discover who was trying to rip off someone's car and find them. Unfortunately, the police are woefully underfunded and undermanned.

**jams** · September-08-09, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by Bobl

Buy American is correct.
In addition, a little more support from neighborhood residents would help. You see a crime, report it. Watch out for your neighbor. Escort the elderly person down the street to the pharmacy.
And somehow, parenting skills need to be taught. This is perhaps the most difficult task.
Do not blame the police. Blame the punks that commit the crime.

Yeah sure, I called numerous times when I observed a neighbor's car or house broken into, only to be told I couldn't because I was not the owner.

I don't blame the individual cops, because they are trying to do their jobs with limited resources, but the higher-ups meh.

**Ray1936** · September-08-09, 03:40 PM

"Yeah sure, I called numerous times when I observed a neighbor's car or house broken into, only to be told I couldn't because I was not the owner"

Jams and all....if you ever get that response, get the badge number of the officer or the operator number of the 911 operator. Then pitch a bitch, and if that goes nowhere, drop a dime to the freep or someone.

That line makes me LIVID.

**digitalvision** · September-08-09, 04:50 PM

I've gotten that line too, multiple times. Frustrating. I had assumed it was because it was the law in the city - but in the 'burbs, or any other city I've lived in in America, that's not the case.

This needs to be a front-page story now. Here's Dave Bing's answer why people aren't outraged about crime - it's because they are, but DPD isn't listening [[this shows a weakness of a Mayor who hasn't lived in the city, as he doesn't know this stuff). And there's no reason why Dave Bing can't fix this.

**jams** · September-08-09, 04:55 PM

After my last assault in front of my house, I quit. I figure I gave it a twenty year try, but after a long litany of burglaries, home invasion, numerous stolen cars and just irritation with this City's administration my path was elsewhere.

I still work in Downtown , and I love the history of this City and Region, but I don't miss living in fear of another attack just walking down my street.