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For a day and a half. Detroit was like Mayberry and other placid places.
The city was homicide-free for at least 36 hours, a rarity worth a media release and Onion-like headlines.
"Detroit Police see violence-free 36 hours," proclaims The Detroit News, reaching beyond the fact that the announcement is limited to murders. George Hunter's lead paragraph also equates zero homicides with zero nonfatal shootings, stabbings or other assaults:
It’s been an unusually bloodless week so far in one of the nation’s most violent cities, Detroit Police said Tuesday afternoon.
"Detroit police tout a first in months: No killings in 36 hours," the Free Press says atop its coverage.
Here's what Police Chief James Craig's department deems announcement-worthy, as reported by Hunter:
“For the first time in months, the City of Detroit has seen its longest period of non-violence ... 36 hours of not one murder or one non-fatal shooting,” Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody said in a press release issued at 2:31 pm Tuesday — meaning the violence-free period went back to 2:31 am Monday.
“I think the longest period we’ve gone without any shootings or murders was 28 hours back in October,” Woody added.
Police also noted there’s been a 13-percent decrease in homicides year-to-date, down 46 for a total of 308. There’s also been a 5.6 drop in non-fatal shootings this year, Woody said.
An Associated Press report posted by WXYZ says the murder-free period extended at least 41 hours into late afternoon Tuesday.
A more intense focus on fighting crime at the street level has been in place since last May's hiring of Chief James Craig, whose police career started in Detroit in 1977.
