Data shows Detroit is arson capital
Detroit — Nationwide fire data support Detroit's reputation among firehouses as the arson capital of the United States. "It's been that way for years. Every time you'd go to a seminar, you meet up with investigators nationwide and all they want to talk about is Detroit," said Jon Bozich, who retired in 2001 as the chief of the city's Arson Squad. "People used to say the arsons would only stop when the city runs out of fuel. It hasn't happened yet." Detroit has averaged 3,800 to 6,000 suspicious building fires annually for years.
A city in flames: inside Detroit's war on arson
For eight long years, the firefighters of Highland Park, Michigan, worked out of a warehouse. There was no red-bricked facade, no lanky Dalmatian. No freshly washed engines gleaming in the sun. No second-floor fire pole to descend in the dead of night to wailing sirens. Whatever idealized vision you have of firefighting, Highland Park is not it.
Fewest cops are patrolling Detroit streets since 1920s
Detroit — There are fewer police officers patrolling the city than at any time since the 1920s, a manpower shortage that sometimes leaves precincts with only one squad car, posing what some say is a danger to cops and residents. Detroit has lost nearly half its patrol officers since 2000; ranks have shrunk by 37 percent in the past three years, as officers retired or bolted for other police departments amid the city's bankruptcy and cuts to pay and benefits. Left behind are 1,590 officers — the lowest since Detroit beefed up its police force to battle Prohibition bootleggers. "This is a crisis, and the dam is going to break," said Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association. "It's a Catch-22: I know the city is broke, but we're not going to be able to build up a tax base of residents and businesses until we can provide a safe environment for them." Police Chief James Craig acknowledges he doesn't have as many officers as he'd like.
Detroit school issues deeper than education
When you see the reports about the perils of the American public school system, the one place that is mentioned most often is Detroit. Thus why when MSNBC chose the Motor City to host Making The Grade, it was essentially a no-brainer. There are many common misconceptions about Detroit. Whether it involves our crime rate, our personality, or our slew of abandoned buildings and houses that dot the city’s landscape. One of them, however, is not our educational system.
Kilpatrick Wins Second Term in Detroit
washingtonpost.comKilpatrick Wins Second Term in Detroit By DAVID RUNKThe Associated PressWednesday, November 9, 2005; 1:02 PM DETROIT -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick overcame a scandal-plagued first term to fend off a challenge from a career bureaucrat, while the FBI announced an investigation into the handling of absentee ballots, including claims of ballots cast in the names of dead people. With 99 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Kilpatrick had 117,354 votes, or 53 percent, and Freman Hendrix had 103,446 votes, or 47 percent. Early returns had shown Hendrix with a 12-point lead. Detroit, the nation's 11th-largest city, is struggling with poverty, decades of population decline and a multimillion-dollar budget deficit that threatens to land it in financial receivership.
Detroit firefighters speak out on bankruptcy
By Tim Rivers and Jerry White 29 July 2013 In fire stations across the city of Detroit, discussions are being held about the impact of the city’s bankruptcy filing and initial efforts by rank-and-file firefighters to mobilize opposition to the emergency manager’s attack on pensions and essential services. Last week, scores of red T-shirted firefighters, organized in the ad hoc Public Safety Workers Action Group (PSWAG), fanned out across the city holding informational pickets and protests outside of fire stations and the Federal Bankruptcy Court.
Is Detroit getting better? Some key findings
Detroit Rising: One year after exiting bankruptcy, are city services in Detroit improving? How is Detroit doing one year after leaving bankruptcy? Any realistic estimation of the city's progress has to take more than finances into account. As Detroit approaches the anniversary of its exit from emergency control and bankruptcy, we look at a range of city services to see whether daily life has actually changed for the majority of Detroit's residents. Streetlights
Crumbling, Destitute Schools Threaten Detroit’s Recovery
Residents wonder how the city can ever recoup its lost population and attract young families if the public schools are in abysmal shape. “As we begin to rebuild this city and we’re seeing money and development moving in, people are understanding that there is no way we can improve Detroit without a strong educational system,” said Mary Sheffield, a native of Detroit and a City Council member. “We have businesses and restaurants and arenas, but our schools are falling apart and our children are uneducated. There is no Detroit without good schools.” In protest over the conditions, teachers began a series of sickouts in recent weeks, inconveniencing many families and reducing classroom instruction time for many students who could ill afford it, but pushing the matter to the forefront. The problems predate the municipal bankruptcy.
Why Detroit's teachers are 'sick' of their inadequate schools
Falling ceilings, mushrooms growing from walls, Detroit Public School teach have had enough of their schools’ poor conditions. Despite cautioning that school system is set to run out of money in April, state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley has announced his resignation effective at the end of February. He exits amid chaos, and another potential teacher sick-out.
