DETROIT – Detroit police Chief James Craig met with the City Council on Tuesday to talk about the improvement in crime statistics, the controversial core report on race within the Detroit Police Department and the ongoing efforts to curb gang violence.
Craig's program, called Cease Fire, is aimed at stopping gang crime in Detroit. Police have watched it work on the east side and are now taking it to the west side.
Crime was reduced in the 5th and 9th Precincts on the east side, and police hope Cease Fire can help improve the west side.
"We're optimistic we'll see the same kind of results on the west side as we did on the east side," Craig said.
In the 8th Precinct on the west side, the most populous area of the city, more children could potentially join gangs, Craig said.
The 8th Precinct has seen an 82 percent increase in fatal shootings, but Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt said the Detroit Police Department is focused on the smaller crimes too. He said solving the problem starts with face to face contact.
"We go to your house and say, 'If you commit another crime, you're going to jail. Period,'" Dolunt said.
Former gang members are often the best ones to deliver a simple message.
"There's a better way to go," Dolunt said. "Some don't believe it and they end up in the joint or end up dead. My big thing is, there's not a lot of old gangsters around because they're in jail or they're dead. Is that what you want?"
People in the roughest precincts are seeing the difference.
"I've got a house down the street that hasn't been vandalized," Jay Cole said. "It's empty. It's been empty for years. So I guess they're doing a good job."
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