Police officers, in recent weeks, raided two crime-ridden apartment complexes on Detroit's east side and took dozens into custody on outstanding warrants -- but they're not stopping there.
The Detroit Police Department plans to conduct another raid before the holidays, this time on the city's west side. Police Chief James Craig said it's being called Operation Mistletoe.
"What's important about these operations is that it shows the community that we care, we're responsive and we're very strategic about who is identified in these operations," he said.
In November, police raided the Colony Arms apartment complex on Jefferson once -- and then went back the next week to conduct a second, scaled-down sweep. Police said more than 30 people were arrested on outstanding warrants at the complex, which police said they have been called to hundreds of times this year.
On Tuesday, police conducted another massive raid -- involving multiple law enforcement agencies -- at the Martin Luther King housing complex, also on the east side. Around 40 people were taken into custody, police said. People were arrested for offenses that included outstanding felony warrants for fraud, aggravated assault and counterfeiting; outstanding traffic warrants and probation violations.
Both of the apartment complexes have been plagued by criminal activity. Craig said police plan to keep returning to the complexes raided.
"We want to sustain the environment of safety," Craig said.
Some are concerned about the raids. Ron Scott, of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said that while it's good police are trying to keep the neighborhood safe, he is concerned issues are being addressed in a military fashion.
"What it sets in motion is a framework of feeling that a military action is prerequisite for resolving these issues, and it's not," Scott said.
He said the citizens and police have to work together.
"It really should be about building peace," Scott said.
Police have said they want residents to know they care. As part of Operation Mistletoe, Craig said police also plan to hand out gifts and possibly food to people in need in the neighborhood.
The department also is reaching out to residents using social media.
Craig said that, in a touching moment during one of the operations, he saw a woman, so happy to see the police, come out onto her front stoop, fall to her knees and begin praying.
Moments like that, Craig said, shows "we're doing the right thing."
Copyright 2013 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
