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Carlos Osorio / AP
Detroit Interim Police Chief Chester Logan answers a question as Mayor Dave Bing looks on during a news conference in Detroit on Thursday.
The homicide rate in the city of Detroit continued a grim upward trend in 2012, hitting its highest peak in nearly two decades, officials said Thursday.
A dwindling population -- 706,585 people in 2011, according to the U.S. Census estimate -- and the rise in homicides combined to make Detroit’s murder rate among the highest in the nation, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Police Chief Chester Logan announced at a press conference.
“We’ve just lost respect for each other; we’ve lost respect for life,” Bing said. “I don’t want to say that you can forget about this generation or the generation before us, but if we’re going to solve the problem, we’ve got to get into the heads and the minds and the hearts of our young people, and it’s going to take all of us to do that.”
Detroit’s total of 411 homicides in 2012, up from 377 the previous year, includes 386 criminal homicides and 25 “justifiable homicides” that included three shootings by police, according to numbers released by the city. The number of criminal homicides increased 12 percent from 344 in 2011. The total in 2010 was 308.
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Even as violent crime rates in the U.S. fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2011, the homicide rate in Detroit rose to a level higher than nearly 40 years ago when the city was known as the Murder Capital, the Detroit News reported. The same day the city's official crime statistics were announced, a Detroit woman was charged with fatally stabbing her 8-year-old daughter and a cab driver was killed in a double shooting on the city’s northwest side.
“I think the message that we want our citizens to understand is that we need them. We need them to help us. I just don’t believe that our police department should have the total responsibility for safety in the city," Bing said. "There are, as the chief said, he can have an additional thousand cops, but there are things that are happening in homes and families in the communities and the neighborhoods that whether a cop was there or not is not going to stop the crime.”
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Homicides have declined nationwide for years, most notably in New York, where in 2012 there were 414 homicides and a rate of one per 19,915 people.
New Orleans reported a small drop from 199 to 193 in 2012. With a population 360,740, the rate was one per 1,869 residents.
In Washington, D.C., there were 88 homicides in 2012, the lowest total since 1961. With a population of 617,966, that puts the rate at one per 7,023 people.
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Elsewhere across the country, homicide rates made only slight jumps compared to Detroit.
- In Los Angeles, the homicide rate increased from 291 to 294 last year, with a population of nearly 3.8 million.
- The homicide rate in Chicago went up nearly 17 percent in 2012, topping 500 for the first time in four years. Last year’s total was 505, up from 433 in 2011.
- Homicides in Cleveland, Ohio, spiked in 2012 with 97 and a rate of one per 4,060 people.
- Philadelphia homicides increased from 324 to 331 in 2012. With a population of 1.54 million, that amounts to one per 4,642.
- In St. Louis, which has a population of 318,169 people, the rate stayed the same at between 2011 and 2012 at one per 2,815 people. There were 113 homicides last year, well below the average of 141 for the five previous years.
Detroit Police Chief Logan said the criminal activity in the city comes from a small minority of the city's population.
"These aren't the average citizens we are talking about," Logan said. "Many of these people are involved in nefarious walks of life, and there's a difference between a law-abiding citizen who shoots a gun and a criminal or a thug who's out there using one."
Still, Mayor Bing offered messages of hope for the city.
“We can’t give up, we can’t give in, and we’ve really got to let the small percentage of our population that’s creating havoc in our city know that we’re not going to continue to accept it and all of us need to get involved and help each other solve the problem,” Bing said.
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If Detroit hasn't figured out that the post WW2 manufacturing monopoly is over, they're not going to figure it out...with UPS, FedX and the Internet; there is no longer a need for people to live in concrete jungles surrounding a huge manufacturing facility waiting to be murdered by thieves...GM isn't going to return to their peak manufacturing years...in fact, GM will not survive...over the next few years GM will be broken up and sold in pieces to the highest bidders...the middle class worker will either evolve into a professional class or devolve into the low wage earner class of $10 - $20 per hour...and by professional class I don't mean just a diploma...people are going to have to know their sh*t because the economy can't afford the bullsh*tters much longer...four classes...rich, professional, hourly wage workers and the poor...
I envy your optimism . . .
I agree Dee Ten. Put some dirt in the cracks of the concrete rubble and grow some strawberries. Everyone wants to forget that the industrial expansion, the demand for steel, and magnified thinking to defeat the enemy in World War II is what got Detroit going. Because of it's location, raw materials could come in and finished product shipped out, without the worry of German bombs. 1967 was not only a year of race riots, but the realization that Soviet Union intercontinental nuclear missiles of the Cold War made the threat of enemy bombers on industry obsolete.
Are you trying to tell me that those over-priced, gas-guzzling POS cars that Detroit is so proud of are destined for the museums? I was informed by a GM salesperson in 1976 that I would NEED to buy a new car every 3 years because of the designed obsolescence. He was right - it started falling apart after 3 years so I started buying foreign.
Sounds just like Obama's Southside Chicago hometown. 500 murders all in a city with strict gun laws......Why do people who live in liberals cities want to kill each other?
Because they hate life there but know they would have to explain moving expenses to their welfare check handler!Liberalism just has a "self destructive" thing about itself!Just axe any welfare mom,dad,child,neighbor,cousin,niece,brother-in-law,mothers' mother,grandfather,grandmother,great grandmother or great grand father.All of whom are likely on welfare!
Detroitistan! If we last this many troops in a war in a year(assuming a republican was president),Code Pink would be turning blue!
hearing about the unions this and that...........the rust belt does need tons of education,technology and human dignity restored. Just try to consider though, how the U.S. had a monopoly on manufacturing for a long time after WWII when European and Japanese factories were bombed out. Yeah the auto unions got their fair share,but we know that opportunistic circumstances for greed did't end with the unions. Many young rust-belt people know that they stand no chance finacially.
Why don't they have schools in the rust belt? Oh yeah, they do. The problem is they have a CULTURE of thinking that if you are educated you are "too good for the rest of us". If baffles me that they would rather remain stupid and ignorant and whine about the plight they created for themselves than open some school books. Education has bounds but stupidity is limitless.
Those who would give up essential liberty in return for promises of temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety and in the end will have neither. I think Ben Franklin said it first.
I think that's a quote from Benheeny Franklin,one of Detriotstans latter mayors'!I think he is also known for saying"give me liberty or give me my phaqing welfare check!".Argue and you die!
A once dang fine city. It has a future if the residents can care enough
Chicago had 500 murders in 2012!!! They have some of the strictest gun laws around... Makes me wonder what "gun control" really does... oh wait, IT DOES NOTHING to prevent crime!!! A well armed public is a safer public
Detroit is done, cant be saved, but as so many have said here, look carefully for what happened to Detroit will happen to the US, once the money printing stops or ceases to be effective.... it is a case study in the decline of american society
Mayor Bing and Police Chief Logan need to go to Michigan's lock ups for hardened criminals and ask them where things went all wrong...was it the witnessing of the brutal murders of their old man or ol lady? Was it the older brother or friend that became their family and turned them onto drugs and drug pushing? Was the ol' lady too much of a nag, or the the ol' man? Was killing the cabbie or convenience store owner the way to go to stay in the gang and move up the ladder? Or was it poor schools and teachers? Did the color of the criminal's skin, or the color of the skins of his family, force white folks to move beyond 8 mile RD to the burbs?
And how about those automotive jobs? What happened to those voc tech programs that sent hundreds of qualified workers to the Big Three? What happened to them? The political leaders of Michigan surrendered long ago, and left the urban citizens and their kids to fend for themselves. All I hear from the business and political leaders of the State of Michigan are excuses; you never hear any of them come up with an effective solution. And Chrysler? We get on these hardened criminals for selling drugs, but it is OK for white, Chrysler, union workers to smoke grass on company time. The cars and trucks they made while stoned will get recalled. Talk to these incarcerated criminals, and they will tell you everything you will or will not want to hear!
No what made them (Whites) move was fear of being murdered, raped, assaulted, or robbed.
The whites weren't forced to move - they chose to move to avoid the ever-increasing crime. Moving because of the criminals' skin makes it sound racist. They would have stayed had the murderers, rapists, robbers, etc been white or hispanic, or ...? I think not.
its time we took the gloves off with these inner city thugs. They have been portrayed as disadvantaged minority victims of a system that leaves them with no choice but a life of crime when in truth they are mostly just lazy drains on our economy and society who just sell drugs and multiply when they are not stoned, or drunk, or shooting each other up. We need to profile them, search them, and burn down their drug dens if need be. We need to take the money we are putting into "helping" them with welfare and food stamps and free medical care when they get shot up over a crack rock and put that money into more prisons that will hold them for longer periods so they may either get so old they are of little danger to anyone, or they die there. We need to give the police better rules of engagement so they can protect themselves and put the fear that they should into these neighborhoods.
The people in these neighborhood should be terrified of the police coming if they are involved in illegal activity. We have become far to concerned of hurting the feelings and violating the rights of those that do not deserve the rights to begin with. We should not legislate to punish the many but instead legislate to target the evil few. Its time we realized they are lost causes that should be written off. They are simply not worth the money or resources they require. Detroit and many other citys with inner city urban cancer will continue to rot at the hands of the people that will continue to declare how disenfranchised they are and will continue to vote for anyone that will continue the endless supply of welfare checks and food stamps.
You need to run for office. You'd have my vote!
You can't say that! They have worked for decades and generations bemoaning their plight of how "the man" has kept them down while they stand in front of "the man" holding out their hands for the welfare checks and food stamps. Every month they are willing to be disenfranchised because to do otherwise means effort on their part.
People keep saying that they need to get an education to make something of themselves. What have learned is that if they got a job they would not be able to go "clubbing" until the wee hours, need to keep regular schedules, get up off their asses and be productive - all for a slight bit more money per month. The have learned that they can sit around and do nothing and get money for it. Who are the ones that need to be educated?
When the best paying work you are qualified for is drug distribution or prostitution and the community and your peers accept those as respectable career options, this is where you end up.
Detriot needs a make over and a new city slogan! "we can move you,mutherfer!'".Drive after dark or be dark and die!";Come on Detriot,we can't do this!";You only hit me once,neener,neener!"Meet my three kids,Chrysler,Chevy and Ford!Ford did well and doesn't take welfare! The other two are just like mom,they are on welfare!Detriot,where the rust hits the road!Detriot,the city with two sports franchises that never have a night game.
Mas098...that was brutal. I've never been to Detroit (obviously, I'm still alive) and I'm real sure I'm not going to book a trip there anytime soon (I like being alive). Detroit has two sports franchises?
"Golden Country"
"Golden country your face is so red
With all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin’ just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin’ but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin’ but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand
Mortgage people you crawl to your homes
Your security lies in your bed of white foam
You act concerned but then why turn away
When a lady was raped on your doorstep today
Well your blacks are cryin’ but your back is still turned
And your freaks are dyin’ but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand, oh yeah......"
Words and Lyrics by Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon.
There are more former Detriot politicians in jail than currently working in the City of Detriot!That's what is wrong with Detriot.Black politicians ran amuk trying to catch up with a 100 years of white criminal politicians.Rarther than stealing a little at a time,they went for the gusto.What was that former civil rights advocate who was close to MLK that became mayor of Detriot and went to jail.His name starts with a "C".Collins,Cummings?All the money is spent on payoffs,there is nothing left for the citizens needs.
wow todd, sounds a bit extreme
Man-alive , that movie Robocop was damn near like a into the future of "old Detroit" !
The US is going to be just fine...it's only the unskilled middle class that is in for a rough ride...just being processed through the educational puppy mills isn't enough anymore...however a person acquires knowledge and skills trumps a high school diploma...wages in a competitive labor market move toward the minimum wage...people are going to be working for $10 - $20 per hour and learning how to do without a lot of stuff they have taken for granted...
Life is just fine-it's black on black crime that's on the rise. It begins with the welfare state, dependance on government and reckless behavior that isn't punished. Tell me, as a law-abiding white man, what I can do about it.
Nothing is ever as simple as it first seems...
Prepare, do not think that the have nots do not know where those who "have" live
Contribute more of your paycheck to support social programs. Every time the social system breaks down the cure is to pump more money in. Can't you see how effective it has been so far?
Detroit is a shining example of what billions and billions of dollars, years of liberal programs and leadership will get you.
Not liberal leadership, common boy, corrupt leadership. You neocons sure don't have a clue.
Isn't this the black culture? You see it everywhere where the majority is African American.
Take a look at Philadelphia, the South side of Chicago. No difference.
I know I'm going to be accused of racism, but you've got to look at the facts.
St. Louis, Newark, Memphis, Birmingham, New Orleans, Oakland, Flint, Baltimore,Atlanta
Add Compton, CA and you pretty much have the list.
Another fine mess unions and liberals have made. They pooped in their own lunchbox, they should clean it up.
How, exactly, did unions and liberals make it? The management of the companies put them underwater trying to sell cars no one wanted. Do you just reflexively blame liberals for anything bad?
"Do you just reflexively blame liberals for anything bad?"
So liberals and unions are in fact joined at the hip? One and the same, right?
brian, sounds like you are starting to understand???
Oh no Gary, i`ve understood for sometime now, thanks!
Eliminate all public unions and make the remaining 27 states '"Right to Work"!!!
Another neocon speaks, Gary K. Didn't anyone tell you that Romoney lost along with his (your) idiotic ideas?
Eliminate all public unions and make the remaining 27 states '"Right to Work"!!!
Agreed; my city has trash collectors making $45/hr and police & fire folk making $200k/year and retiring at 45 with six-figure pensions.
Detroit: The murder capital, and proud of it. The vacant homes / buildings in areas of Detroit are hard to imagine until you see it for yourself - it's like scenes from an apocalyptic movie. Governmental mismanagement and corruption on a grand scale - the former Mayor and his posse currently on trial in federal court, and many City and Wayne County officials (current and former) under investigation. When I have to go through the "D," I try to stay on the main freeways and hope I don't get shot.
This is what happens when the liberals run show. Proof again that gun control only works for criminals and not law abiding citizens.
No bob, this is what happens when neocons have a role in government - perpetuate poverty and exploit the poor for the benefit of the rich. You're not too bright, are you?
Just like those libbies - offer them another piece of candy with their welfare checks and food stamps. Gotta admit that the libbies have it figured out though. The more financally strapped you keep a populace the easier they are to control.
1Citizen -
And just when did the 'neocons' get control of Detroit?
I would really like to know, because if you look at the party affiliations of Detroit's mayors, they've all been democrat for the past 50 years.
Unless, for some reason, you are confused as to what a 'neocon' is, perhaps?
Detroit, comrade obama's vision of his marxist amerikka!!!
Yours is one ignorant comment....you must be retarded!
As an independent with many traditionally conservative beliefs, those like Gary make me reconsider.
Just checked the demographic of a few major cities and cross referenced crime and those with high poverty and large percentage of African Americans have higher crime stats. Detroit 82.7% black, Chicago 32% black, Philadelphia 44% black, Atlanta 54 % black, Los Angles 25 % Black. Do the statistics show anything as statistics can be made to prove anything one wants.
Try correlating the statistics with the black population areas of Chicago and Los Angeles. Absolute percentages don't mean much in a larger metro area.
Let us call it what it is.
BLACK ON BLACK CRIME,
fueled by drugs,
and enabled with guns.
Maybe I'm wrong, but wasn't in Detroit that some kids killed another kid with an unregistered 2 X 4 ? Maybe it was Chicago, but it still a 2 X 4 and it was Afro-American on Afro-American.