I don’t live in Detroit, so grain of salt. (Then again, a dear friend of mine was gunned down walking to a class at Wayne State, so I’m not without a feeling of having a stake in Detroit’s crime problems.)
Heavy handed…maybe. But this program, and the Cease Fire Detroit initiative, seem to be working. Carjackings are down by half (IIRC) over the past year, and murders are down by 160+ over the past two years. Detroit’s violent crime rate is now lower than any time since the '60s.
It’s not a pay-for-play situation. The expense is for HDTV cams indoors and out; access and storage; signage. The city doesn’t get a check. I’ve been thinking of this as a business regulation, like a requirement to install fire sprinklers or handicap access or cast iron drain lines. For years, businesses in downtown have been screaming about violent crime (srsly, the carjackings were out of control). This seems to be helping. (Another benefit of realtime observation is the reduction of diversionary fake 911 calls, aimed at luring cops away from the actual sites of violence/crime.)
Detroit’s got myriad holes to climb out of – bankruptcy, understaffing, lack of regional transit, thousands of abandoned/foreclosed houses, shitty tax base. If you’ve got a magic wand, please share!
