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Detroit
homicide
rate
declines
dramatically
during
last six
months
of 2009.
Detroit
--
Murders
in
Michigan's
largest
city
increased
slightly
last
year,
according
to
preliminary
figures
released
Wednesday
by
Detroit
Police,
although
the
numbers
show
that
homicides
dropped
dramatically
in the
second
half of
2009.
There
were 379
homicides
in
Detroit
last
year, up
from 375
in 2008.
But from
July to
December
last
year,
there
were 179
-- a 20
percent
decline
from the
same
period
in 2008.
Police
officials
attribute
the drop
to a
change
in the
way
homicides
are
investigated,
more
police
on the
street
and the
use of
computer-driven
data to
target
crime
hot
spots.
"I'm
cautiously
optimistic
about
these
numbers,"
said
Ronald
Griffin,
chairman
of the
Detroit
Board of
Police
Commissioners.
"I want
this to
be a
good
news
story,
but I'm
not
ready to
say
we've
fixed
the
problems
in the
department
just
yet,
although
there is
certainly
reason
for
hope."
Detroit
Police
Chief
Warren
Evans
admitted
he has a
long way
to go
toward
fixing
the
problems
that
have
long
plagued
the
department,
but he
said law
enforcement
is
headed
in the
right
direction.
"We've
done a
lot more
in a
short
time
than I
thought
we'd be
able to
do,"
said
Evans,
who took
over as
police
chief on
July 7.
"Obviously
one
homicide
is one
too
many,
and we
know
we're
not
going to
stop
them
all.
But I
think
we've
jumped
over the
hurdle
that we
(the
Detroit
Police)
aren't
smart
enough,
or that
we
aren't
competent."
Drop is
unprecedented
The drop
in
homicides
during
the
second
half of
2009 is
even
more
dramatic
considering
where
the
statistics
were
trending
during
the
first
half of
the
year.
From
2005 to
2008,
Detroit
homicides
from
July to
December
increased
by an
average
of 20
percent.
If that
trend
had
continued,
taking
the
numbers
from the
first
six
months
of 2009,
Detroit
was on
pace for
more
than 500
homicides.
Experts
say such
a
significant
drop in
murders
is
nearly
unprecedented.
"Let's
give
Detroit's
new
police
management
some
credit
on
this,"
said Jon
Shane, a
professor
of
criminology
at John
Jay
College
of
Criminal
Justice
in New
York
City and
a former
homicide
investigator
with the
Newark
(N.J.)
Police
Department.
"It
appears
the
accountability
structure
and the
analysis
were
lacking
in the
previous
administration.
Having
said
that,
we've
never
seen
such a
drastic
drop in
homicide
in that
short of
time --
in six
months.
It begs
for
empirical
study.
It
doesn't
happen
like
this."
Among
the
policies
Evans
has
implemented:
● More
reliance
on
statistics:
Police
officials
now use
statistics
to
locate
crime
hot
spots.
This
allows
commanders
to send
officers
to high
crime
areas.
This
method
was
initiated
15 years
ago in
New York
City and
is in
use in
places
such as
Mexico
City.
Detroit
discarded
the
method a
few
years
ago,
Deputy
Chief
James
Tolbert
said.
Evans
said he
plans to
hire a
"computer
guru"
who will
delve
further
into the
data-driven
method
of
policing.
●
Creation
of a
mobile
tactical
strike
force:
Made up
of 150
officers
from the
Gang
Squad,
Tactical
Mobile
Unit and
the
fugitive
apprehension
and
traffic
squads,
the
strike
force is
deployed
to
different
areas of
the city
on a
daily
basis.
●
Involving
local
officers:
The
department
also
embeds
precinct
officers
with
homicide
detectives
during
the
initial
phase of
a murder
investigation.
"Those
officers
who are
out
there in
the
neighborhood
have
information
our
homicide
detectives
don't
often
have,"
Evans
said.
● More
officers
on the
street:
In
October,
Evans
reassigned
100
officers
from
desk
jobs to
patrols.
Also, a
federal
grant
will pay
for an
additional
50
officers,
who
should
be out
of the
police
academy
and on
the
streets
within a
few
months.
●
Multiagency
"crusades":
Task
forces
involving
the
Detroit
Police,
Wayne
County
Sheriff's
Office,
Michigan
State
Police
and
various
federal
agencies
conduct
sweeps
of
targeted
areas
that
have
shown
spikes
in
crime.
The
sweeps
focus on
arresting
parole
and
probation
violators
and
escapees.
In
December,
a sweep
in
southwest
Detroit
resulted
in 63
arrests
and the
seizure
of 13
guns.
Closure
rate
improves
Beyond
the
homicide
numbers,
the
department's
closure
rate
improved
to 60
percent
for the
second
half of
2009,
police
said.
Previously
the
closure
rate was
28
percent.
The
national
average
is 62
percent,
according
to the
FBI.
A
homicide
is
considered
closed
when a
suspect
is
arrested
and a
murder
warrant
is
issued.
Lt.
Dwane
Blackmon,
commanding
officer
of the
homicide
section,
credits
the
doubling
of the
closure
rate to
having
the
department's
SWAT
team
canvass
the
neighborhoods
where
homicides
take
place,
looking
for the
killers.
That
frees up
homicide
detectives,
Blackmon
said.
"Investigators
have
more
time to
investigate
and are
not
burdened
having
to spend
time
looking
for
people,"
Blackmon
said.
"The
clearance
rate is
substantial,"
said
Charles
Wellford,
a
professor
of
criminology
at the
University
of
Maryland
who has
studied
Detroit's
police
response
to
homicides.
"The
kind of
intensive
effort,
specialized
units
for the
apprehension
of
fugitives
and the
use of
manpower
at the
crime
scene to
collect
evidence
in those
critical
first
few
hours
reflects
what
other
agencies
have
done to
improve
clearances.
It shows
me
Detroit
is
making
this a
priority."
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