DETROIT – In the wake of a violent weekend downtown, community leaders have teamed up with Metro Detroit law enforcement to help get it to stop.
It’s called “One Detroit,” and police, prosecutors, and religious leaders have come together to get the job done.
The rollout was downtown Wednesday (April 19). However, for it to actually take shape, officials must be in Detroit neighborhoods where safety is the priority.
Mildred Henderson cleans up the park in her east side neighborhood every day.
“For the kids,” said Henderson. “I clean up the neighborhood so the kids could have something to do.”
Henderson lives in the Detroit police 9th Precinct, which police say is a hot spot for shootings.
The area is a target enforcement zone for police to come in and get illegal guns and arrest those who use them.
Safety is the number one thing Henderson thinks about each day.
“That’s all I do is watch my back all the time,” Henderson said. “Make sure everybody is safe.”
The One Detroit Violence Reduction partnership is about your right to live in a safe Detroit.
It is a law enforcement blitz targeting illegal guns and an ambitious shooting prevention effort behind police services to those involved to help people make better decisions and not go for a gun.
United States attorney Dawn Ison has a specific goal in mind.
“We want people to stop using guns to solve conflicts, that’s all, period,” said Ison.
With a rash of gun violence in the city for the past number of days, police are alarmed at how they are seeing younger and younger people using illegal guns.
“The point at which someone puts an illegal gun under their belt and leaves the house we have lost,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “We are seeing beefs turn into shootings over and over. We are going to engage in all types of prevention efforts, but for those who do choose to do it, law enforcement is aligned together. We are trying to change decision-making.”
As far as Greektown goes, Duggan says to look for crowd control measures and put everyone through a metal detector looking to stop illegal guns.
Read: Man, woman arraigned on charges linked to murder of beloved security guard in Greektown
