DETROIT – Making any dent in Detroit’s violent crime has long been a problem, yet the mayor’s office believes a new program put in place to assist police is making a significant difference.
The city received roughly $10 million in American Rescue Plan money and is trying to leverage that into lower crime by helping problems end long before the police get the call and they claim it’s paying big dividends.
The city has tried Green Light and Shotspotter technology and the mayor’s office believes a newer idea is also worth a try. It built a program that gives six community groups $700,000 each to try to combat crime at the ground level before it even starts.
Dujuanzoe Kennedy runs a group called Force Detroit, which works directly with teens.
“Ongoing mentorship, relentless engagement. We also have a cognitive behavioral therapy rites of passage course that we put the young men through to cultivate them to make better decisions,” Kennedy said.
And for more than a decade, Detroit 300 has patrolled its westside neighborhoods looking for trouble. Now they’ve decided that they will also insert their workforce directly into trouble spots.
“We get a lot of information on AirBNB’s and a lot of like parties, any kind of parties you look up, we’re going to be there, we going to enjoy the party with you to make sure everybody make it home safe,” said Eric Ford, with Detroit 300.
Detroit 300 discovered, much like with police, patrolling is impersonal and this kind of prevention requires watching the neighborhood online and on the ground.
“These are individuals who can go into areas where there is a beef, that can stop the beef,” said Dr. Raphael Johnson. “These are individuals that can know where the tension that can lead to shooting and ultimately intervene and prevent those shootings.”
Now, there’s a bonus opportunity for these groups -- Drop crime in your area by more than the city’s 20% year-over-year reduction and you get a cash bonus to bring on more help.
The mayor’s office said four of the six groups in the last quarter have far exceeded that level and picked up their bonuses.