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It is no secret that Detroit has one of the highest crime rates in the country. Our residents are twice as likely to experience a property crime than the rest of the country. And if you live in Detroit, you are 5 times more likely to experience a violent crime than if you live just about anywhere else in the US. Our unacceptably high crime rates stem from complex problems rooted in systemic racism and inequitable policies. Here are some of my thoughts:

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• I would like to see more police patrolling within the neighborhoods - officers that live in the communities that they serve. 

• I want to work on a long term solution to the low wages our police earn so our young people are encouraged to serve. 

• Reevaluate the Green Light Program - since its inception we have not seen the promised decrease in crime.  The program itself is inequitable since the cost to participate can be prohibitive for many small businesses. 

• I am against the current use of facial recognition technology by the Detroit Police Department.  “Recent studies by M.I.T. and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, have found that while the technology works relatively well on white men, the results are less accurate for other demographics, in part because of a lack of diversity in the images used to develop the underlying databases.”

• We can reduce serious injuries caused by police intervention through better training and implementation of non-violent approaches to apprehension and crowd control.

• I am very interested in exploring ways to create cooperation between the police and mental health providers. There are many successful programs we can use for inspiration, including the use of Crisis Intervention, Co-Responder, Mobile Crisis, and Case Management Teams as well as Crisis Stabilization Centers. 1

• Let's implement more quality job creation programs, which have been shown to decrease crime.   One inspiring example is Boston’s youth summer job program which resulted in a 35% drop in violent crime and 57% drop in property crime among the participants - an effect that lasted at least 17 months after their participation in the program. 2

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Interview in Morningside Newsletter

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I believe that we need to both increase the number of police that live & work in our neighborhoods AND redirect some DPD funds to better serve our community. I think police respond differently when they know and understand the culture of the community they are living in.

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One place I would look is expanding the current CoResponse Pilot Programs like the 911 Integrated Response & Detroit Homeless Outreach Team, a collaboration between Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network & the DPD. These programs have shown promise in redistributing resources to better address the needs of individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. I also think we can reduce serious injuries caused by police intervention with better training & implementation of non-violent approaches to apprehension & crowd control.

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I also want to work on a long term solution to the low wages our police earn so our young people are encouraged to serve. Let’s also implement more quality job creation programs, which have been proven to decrease crime.