James Craig (Deadline Detroit file photo)
The shooting of four people on Noel Night in Midtown was a reminder that Detroit has a crime problem, writes Detroit News columnist Bankole Thompson.
"And no amount of spin from the highest officials in city government can change that fact," Thompson writes in a column titled: "Detroit needs more action, less PR on safety."
"People are dying on the streets. And we are constantly reminded through tragedy after tragedy that many children in the city are being lost to gun violence every year." . . .
During an interview when he took the job, [Chief James] Craig spoke extensively about his plans — including making community policing key to turning the tide against crime — to turn around the ugly situation at the department.
But four years later, it is time to ask about the chief’s crime-fighting plan. It is time to ask if his strategies have been effective in a city where continuous refrains of a comeback contradict the serious public safety issues many residents are facing.
And instead of disputing the recent FBI crime reports that identified Detroit as the most dangerous big city in America, Craig should proffer some concrete accounts of how the department is battling crime.
