Aug. 15--Inside the plush banquet hall of a contemporary church building in northwest Detroit, nearly three dozen command and other officers of the Detroit Police Department held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the city's crime rate and assert that they are making progress in the face of deep budget cuts.
But only about a dozen residents of the city attended, and some complained that the meeting at New Providence Baptist Church had been poorly publicized.
And just before the meeting began at 6 p.m., the shooting of a 3-year-old girl on the city's east side -- which called Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. away -- pointed out the challenge of the city's seemingly relentless gunfire.
The toddler was shot while inside a vehicle about 5:40 p.m. in the 19600 block of Cardoni, near State Fair and I-75. She was in serious condition Tuesday night at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, a police spokeswoman said.
"We don't believe the child was the target of violence," Godbee said at the scene. "We have identified the shooter and we're going to work all night to bring him into custody."
Back at the meeting, Assistant Chief Chester Logan said: "It's a wonderful thing that we're in a church tonight. I've just heard that the child did not expire," prompting some in the audience to exclaim: "Amen."
The city's homicide rate for the second quarter was down 15%, from 106 in 2011 to 90 this year, Lt. Nick Giaquinto of the Crime Analysis Unit said. And the city's overall rate of violent crime was down about 5% for the quarter, compared with last year, he said.
Since February, the department has transferred about 60 officers from desk jobs to patrol work, a 7% increase, thanks to more than doubling the budget for its Telephone Crime Reporting Unit -- staffed by civilian workers to free up trained officers, Cmdr. Todd Bettison said.
The unit takes any call that doesn't need immediate police response, allowing 911 operators to give faster service for emergencies, Bettison said.
Raymond Duma, a west sider for more than 50 years, left the meeting looking worried.
"The gangs are terrorizing our neighborhood," said Duma, who is housing chairman of the Warren Avenue Community Organization.
"You can guess why they've moved in on us. They know about the lack of policing in our area," Duma said.
Minutes after the police meeting and 2 miles south, about 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil on the Southfield Freeway service drive at Joy Road, where a 19-year-old man and 16-year-old girl were shot to death last week.
"Help us, Lord Jesus, to change this city around," said Lajuana Jackson, mother of Marcus Andrews. His funeral is Saturday.
Staff writer Melanie Scott Dorsey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
