Slow emergency responses by Detroit police remain a front-burner issue, now addressed by a retired city officer who sees serious understaffing as "the biggest factor likely affecting response times."
John K. Bennett, an ex-cop still living in the city, comments in a Detroit Free Press guest column on "a system that's broken."
Unless the city does more to recruit, retain and reward those policing our city, it's unlikely the system will be mended.
Before I retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2016, officers were adhering to a new policy that would automatically generate an investigation if it took officers more than 15 minutes to get to their police run. . . .
Perpetrators are keenly aware when police patrols are not present, and I submit that has resulted in a spike in crime.
The city's force has shrunk to 1,700 officers from 2,500 in 2014.
In four Deadline Detroit investigative articles Jan. 22-25, Charlie LeDuff and Steve Neavling documented far longer arrival times after 911 priority calls.
Bennett suggests remedies:
The city of Detroit has to find ways to hire and retain officers so that they won’t leave for other police agencies after receiving free training from Detroit. . . . Detroit should not be a training ground for other agencies. . . .
We need to pay our officers more. The pay for policing is pitiful in Detroit. In fact, candidates who enter Detroit’s police academy are paid a starting salary of $37,000. The current maximum pay after 5 years on the force is $57,000. Pay should be increased to a competitive level so officers will want to stay. . . .
Since 2014, the department has lost 800 police officers. At one point, an average of 4.5 per week bolted to agencies offering better pay. The number of officers has fallen from 2,500 five years ago to 1,700 today.
