Victim of a crime

[grumpyoldlady]

My sis-in-law and her young son lived on Parkgrove just west of Gratiot. There were a lot of drug dealers in the area. One day, a shot came through her wall. She called the police and her brother to come get her. As she jumped into the back of his moving car, more shots were fired...in HER direction. After getting to her brother's house and safety, they called the DPD again, and were told..."we don't answer gunfire calls in that area". I never would have believed it if I hadn't heard the recorded call.

[Mackinaw]

I agree with m3h.shallal's first point: the city is too big to generalize. Of course, speaking with any sort of specificity and trying to point out that many parts of the city are not crime ridden would fly in the face of the nice, easy categorization of Detroit as a whole that the world has made.

I don't agree, nor do I really understand, m3h.shallal's point about why density = crime. I don't believe this is true within Detroit or in comparing cities at large, for many, many reasons.

[rustic2]

Attacked on a D-DOT bus in 1982 after giving two or three youths the finger when they ridiculed me. Got sucker-punched and a board swung at me [[grazed) before the attackers fled when the bus made a stop. Fellow passengers did nothing but shake their heads. Re-thought my response to being made fun of by strangers.

Mom and sister victim of a bump-and-rob later same year.

Robbed at gunpoint by three men while on a date in 1983, just outside Ivanhoe's [["Polish Yacht Club"). Put some cold water on that moment, let me tell you. When it was over, precinct told us to call 911. Nine-eleven told us to call precinct. M, if you're on detroityes, I remember!

Robbed again at gunpoint, again by a trio, walking home from Chinese restaurant with my two brothers. A half a block from our home. They even took our takeout and our booze -- but gave me my empty wallet back.

One brother robbed later again at gunpoint, by two men, outside a party store a block from his home. They took his leather jacket but not his "nasty-ass shoes." Perps were scared off when my brother's friend and bandmate, leaving the party store, got his bag of chips caught in the door and the bag exploded with a crisp "pop." Police arrived but took a very laid-back approach.

Have known several people murdered in Detroit -- ex-classmate, neighbor kid across the street, WSU English professor.

Girlfriend [[now wife) had purse stolen while helping me move from Detroit in 1992. My stupid mistake for leaving door unguarded for even a second.

Father also victim of a bump-and-rob, many years after his wife and daughter.

Never underestimate the power of Detroit to drag down your soul.

[reddog289]

While crime isn't funny, My Grandpa who was carjacked wanted to stay as well as one of my Uncles. As for Grandma she was tired of the crime, gunfire and slow decay of the area.As I am finding out the woman gets the last word most of the time.I have been a victim of crime but nothing serious yet.I have had people move outta my area because they felt threatened.

[English]

I haven't been a victim of personal crime in Detroit, but my family has. Our home was broken into back in 1988 or 1989, but a crackhead relative did that. My folks installed an alarm system and bars on the front door, and that was that. My dad foiled an attempted carjacking in 1995, but then was successfully carjacked in 1998 three weeks before he died. One of my mother's cousins was shot sometime in the 90s [[she was the wife of a DPD officer), and my father's baby sister was murdered in 2000 [[she was a crackhead).

The lesson I learned growing up in inner-city Detroit was this: keep your wits about you, and as they used to say, keep your nose clean! I was totally square and didn't really go out much. When I did it was with a group, to a place we *knew* would be decent. I also invested in alarm systems and a lot of other personal safety devices.

Having said all that, I know that I was blessed. Or for you non-believers, "dumb luck". I'm under no illusions. For instance when I lived in Midtown, every year I'd host a group of out-of-town buddies. We'd walk down Woodward Avenue to the intersection of Woodward and Hart Plaza for the fireworks. I was out of town [[overseas) in June 2001, but I did this in June 2002 and June 2003. Always had a blast, and my out-of-town friends [[young like me, but white and suburban from other metros) thought Detroit was gritty but cool. I always got a kick out of it.

Was planning to do it again in June 2004, but the only out-of-town friend who came up that year wanted to go to Bible study at my church instead. Turns out that was the night of the infamous fireworks shooting when nine were hit... right in my favorite spot.

I have a LOT of stories like that where I "just missed it"... especially from my teen years during the height of the crack epidemic. I am fortunate that I was terrified of my parents, and they were unreasonably strict. My curfew was 10 pm until I was a senior, and 11 pm my senior spring. My folks said trouble always happened after midnight, and it's a rule I observed as a young woman to a degree. If I was ever out by myself, I was ALWAYS home by midnight... and if I was out with a group of girlfriends, we always left before the bars and clubs all closed on weekends. Maybe this means I missed out on a lot of fun, but hey... I'm living my life like it's golden anyway!