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Dave Starr
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Flint ranks as nation's most violent, FBI statistics show
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 1:45 PM Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 2:28 PM
David Harris | Flint Journal By David Harris | Flint Journal
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61ST HOMICIDE_04.JPGRYAN GARZA | THE FLINT JOURNALA T-shirt memorializing DeQuan C. Baker, who was shot and killed in June, still hangs on a telephone pole across the street from the house at 621 W. Ridgeway Avenue in Flint where the city's 61st homicide happened in December.
FLINT, Michigan — Flint is once again the most violent city in America, according to figures released by the FBI today.
For 2010, Flint recorded more than 2,400 violent crimes, the most per capita of any city more than 100,000.
According to the FBI, Flint had 53 murders, 92 rapes, 670 robberies and 1,597 aggrevated assaults.
The 53 murders is a different figure than the city has — 65 homicides.
It is unclear what the discrepancy is.
The top 5 for violent crime is Flint, Detroit, St. Louis, New Haven, Conn. and Memphis, Tenn.
Overall, violent crime was down nationwide.
Nationally, murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, forcible rape decreased 4.2 percent, robbery declined 9.5 percent, and aggravated assault was down 3.6 percent.
The downward trend for murder and non-negligent manslaughter was especially pronounced in the nation’s smallest cities, where it went down 25.2 percent for cities under 10,000 people. Murder actually rose 3 percent in cities with populations of 250,000 to half a million.
The report can be found here.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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90220
90220 May 23, 2011 at 1:52PM
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Violent crime is down throughout the nation, but up in Flint. Hmm, yeah, no correlation between that and the extreme lack of police presence is there.
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JohnofGB
JohnofGB May 23, 2011 at 2:02PM
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I do not need FBI stats to tell me about Flint.
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CENSOREDNEWS
CENSOREDNEWS May 23, 2011 at 2:10PM
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We Win! We win! We are number one again!
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Chingasos
Chingasos May 23, 2011 at 2:14PM
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Tribes rule.
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RG6969
ThatDude May 23, 2011 at 2:21PM
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i think the real correlation between high crime and flint is the high percentage of apes, monkeys, and scoundrels running a muck.
that is it.
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gripper1947
Gripper May 23, 2011 at 2:23PM
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Flint Michigan; Your gateway to NOWHERE!!!!
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B17bomber
B17Bomber May 23, 2011 at 2:25PM
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Well from what I was being told that the arm pit was making a come back. It did from 3rd place to first place. You can't get any better than that.
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DWCBOB
DWCBOB May 23, 2011 at 2:29PM
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New city limit signs......
"Welcome to the most violent city in the nation"
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"
"Hey, at least we're number one at something."
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_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Mon May 23, 2011 1:31 pm |
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ConcernedCitizen
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| I vote we get rid of the last police and put the gang members in their place. They are removing more criminals from the streets, and they are doing it permanently! |
_________________
"When people fear their government, there is TYRANNY.
When the government fears the people, there is Liberty"
Thomas Jefferson |
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Mon May 23, 2011 1:38 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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dave- NUmber one in arsons too!
Flint arsons per capita most in nation with more than twice next highest, 2010 FBI crime statistics show
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 4:45 PM Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 4:49 PM
By Khalil AlHajal | The Flint Journal The Flint Journal
View full size(Ryan Garza | Flint Journal files)The ruins of a charred house on Jane Avenue between Minnesota and Iowa avenues, where 20 arsons last year made it the hardest-hit block in Flint.
FLINT, Michigan — The city had more arsons per capita in 2010 than any other city in the country with more than 100,000 population, according to FBI crime statistics released today.
Flint's per capita arson rate of 313.97 per 100,000 is more than twice the second highest in the nation — Toledo, Ohio's 155.87, according to the numbers reported to the FBI.
The statistics show a 98-percent increase in arsons from 2009, when 173 were reported by the city to the FBI, compared to 343 in 2010.
Dayton Detroit and Cleveland had the third, fourth and fifth highest arson rates, respectively, according to the statistics
The FBI numbers also place Flint at the top of the list in violent crimes per capita. City officials today called it a "terrible distinction."
The statistics are available here.
Related topics: Flint crime, Khalil AlHajal
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Mon May 23, 2011 4:26 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint Mayor Dayne Walling: Most violent city in America 'terrible distinction'
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 3:43 PM Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 4:11 PM
By David Harris | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
Ryan Garza | The Flint JournalCity of Flint Mayor Dayne Walling addresses the media on crime stats released by the FBI naming Flint as the most violent city on Monday at Flint City Hall. Flint recorded more than 2,400 violent crimes in 2010, the most per capita of any city more than 100,000.
FLINT, Michigan -- Mayor Dayne Walling said today that Flint being the most violent city in the nation is a 'terrible distinction.'
Walling made the comments today after FBI figures showed that Flint had the most violent crimes out of any U.S. city with a population more than 100,000. Numbers also showed that Flint bucked a national trend because its violent crime increased, while the nation decreased on average.
"The 2010 FBI crime stats show Flint has the terrible distinction as being the most violent city in America," he said. "We know 2010 was a terrible and tragic year where too many lives were lost."
Walling said the fact that 46 police officers were laid off last year didn't have an affect on the numbers. He said many of the crimes were committed by people who knew each other and lived in the same household.
"There will never be enough police officers sitting at every kitchen counter to stop all the violence," he said. |
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Mon May 23, 2011 4:31 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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2010 FBI crime stats discrepancy with homicides will be corrected, Walling says
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 3:58 PM Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 4:10 PM
By David Harris | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
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FLINT, Michigan — A discrepancy between the city's homicide total and the FBI total will be corrected, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said.
The city reported that there were 65 homicides last year, but the FBI has 53.
Walling said he wasn't sure why there was a difference.
"We expect that to be corrected," he said.
He said numbers aren't what is important.
"This is a community that has struggled with violent crime for a very long time," he said.
As a whole, the numbers don't reflect the community, he said.
"It's a terrible distinction, but for those of us who live here, we know this community is more than (just about) violent crime," he said.
The Flint Journal's number is 66 because of a homicide where the crime started in Genesee Township, but the man died in Flint. |
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Mon May 23, 2011 4:35 pm |
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BornAndRaised80sDowntown
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| I've been here my entire life. I'm moving to NC on Sunday. I can't take it anymore. I've managed to save up enough to start over. Luckily, I don't have any kids yet so relocating shouldn't be that bad. I grew up downtown near Ann Arbor St. and on the southend near Lapeer and 12th. I've seen my share of violence and drug addicts. The crack babies of the late 80s and 90s are old enough to act out now - and they are. The parents, the original crackheads, are still contributing. Those two elements mixed in with lack of jobs/money, increase in cost of living, and subquality education = formula for a hellish disaster. I'm out! |
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I'm an 80s baby - born at Hurley - raised in downtown and on the southside of Flint. Moving to the south before Spring's end. |
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Mon May 23, 2011 5:48 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
2010 FBI crime stats discrepancy with homicides will be corrected, Walling says
Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 3:58 PM Updated: Monday, May 23, 2011, 4:10 PM
By David Harris | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
Problem is, Walling's police chief was to have made that correction LONG AGO! |
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Tue May 24, 2011 6:04 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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#1 even with the wrong murder stats.
The Most Dangerous Cities in America
by Douglas A. McIntyre, Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
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Earlier this week, the FBI trumpeted the news that violent crime dropped 5.5% in 2010 while reported property crimes fell 2.8% during the depths of the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression. The news, though, is far from positive.
Though most regions of the U.S. saw declines, the Northeast saw an increase in murders (8.3%), forcible rapes (1.4%) and aggravated assaults (0.7%). Why that region was affected by crime more than others isn't clear. Perhaps it was because of the grinding poverty found in some of the area's cities and their high cost of living.
More from 24/7 Wall St.:
• 10 States That Make the Most From Sin
• 10 States Where Pensions Are Running Out of Money
• Cities With Best, Worst Public Transportation
The Police Executive Research Forum polled 233 local law enforcement agencies in 2009, and found that the link between poverty and crime was inextricable. A prolonged recession would only make matters worse, the research showed. After reviewing the data, PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler told Reuters, "We are not saying there is going to be a crime wave, but we are saying this is a wake-up call and we anticipate the situation will continue to deteriorate."
A 24/7 Wall St. review of 2010 FBI crime data shows violent crime rose in several of the largest and poorest cities in the U.S., particularly those which have been in decline for some time. Even when crime rates dropped, older urban areas still had more violent crime than other cities. Philadelphia, Cleveland, Buffalo and Hartford finished high on the FBI's list but failed to make the final 24/7 Wall St. ranking.
The crime problem is not completely explained by crimes committed. Police forces are supposed to keep crime rates down, but officers have begun to disappear from the streets of some large cities. Pontiac, Mich., part of the corridor of high crime cities that runs from Detroit to Flint, recently turned over its police operations to the sheriff's office of Oakland Country, where Pontiac is located. Old industrial towns need to cut costs as populations fall and tax receipts recede, but the money trouble almost makes it certain that criminal activity will grow because it is mostly unchecked.
24/7 Wall St. looked at the ten most crime-plagued cities in the U.S. with populations of more than 100,000. We used a measurement of crimes per thousand people which is part of the new FBI database to determine the order. We compared these figures to unemployment rates and median income. The recession may have ended, but crime has not eased in these troubled cities nor will it anytime soon.
Our list is dominated by towns like Detroit, New Haven, and Baltimore. Parts of these cities are fortresses of crime. Much of the violent crime in Detroit is committed in the old Palmer Avenue section of the city, which is far from the shiny skyscrapers where GM has its headquarters. Baltimore's Front Street neighborhood is a world away from the new office towers of companies like financial giant T Rowe Price on Pratt Street. The crime-plagued Lamar Avenue section of Memphis is also far from the city's ritzy neighborhoods.
Unemployment will inevitably improve in these cities. The most hard-hit sections, however, may never completely recover. They failed to do so after the last economic upswing -- and the one before that. Some part of all the cities on this list will be home to high levels of violent crime permanently. And, if the money used to keep police on the streets falls in most of these municipalities, containing the problem to a few neighborhoods will be hard. It would be nice to believe that criminals sit out a recovery, but they don't.
These are America's 10 Most Dangerous Cities:
1. Flint, Mich.
Population: 109,245
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 22
2010 Murders: 53
Median Income: $27,049 (46.1% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 11.8% (2.8% above national average)
The number of violent crimes committed in Flint increased for all categories considered for this list between 2009 and 2010. Perhaps most notably, the number of murders in the city increased from 36 to 53. This moves the city from having the seventh highest rate of homicide to the second highest. The number of aggravated assaults increased from 1,529 to 1,579, a rate of 14.6 assaults per 1,000 residents, placing the city in the No. 1 rank for rate of assaults. Flint police chief Alvern Lock stated late last year that he believed the city's violence stemmed from drugs and gangs. Flint has a relatively small median income of about $27,000 per household. The city also has a poverty rate of 36.2%.
2. Detroit
Population: 899,447
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 18.9
2010 Murders: 310
Median Income: $26,098 (48% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 12.7% (3.7% above national average)
The city crippled the most in America's post-industrial era is almost certainly Detroit. The Motor City has suffered from high rates of unemployment, homelessness, and crime. The city has one of the ten highest rates for three of the four types of violent crime identified by the FBI. Detroit has the sixth highest murder rate, the fifth highest robbery rate, and the second highest rate of aggravated assault. In 2005, a major reorganization of the city's police department took place after a federal investigation identified inefficiencies within the system. According to an article in The United Press, opponents of Detroit Mayor David Bing called for further intervention by the Justice Department in several shootings that occurred last year.
3. St. Louis
Population: 355,151
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 17.5
2010 Murders: 144
Median Income: $34,801 (30.7% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3% (0.3% above national average)
Violent crime in St. Louis fell dramatically between 2009 and 2010, and has decreased since 2007. Despite this, crime rates remain extremely high compared with other cities. In 2010, the city's murder rate and rate of aggravated assault were each the third worst in the country. With regards to both violent and nonviolent crime, St. Louis was rated the most dangerous city based on FBI data released six months ago. As of December 2010, the murder rate in St. Louis was 6.3 times that of the state of Missouri. The city's gunshot murder rate for residents between 10 to 19 years old is also the second highest in the country, behind only New Orleans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
4. New Haven, Conn.
Population: 124,856
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 15.8
2010 Murders: 22
Median Income: $38,279 (23.8% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 9.6% (0.6% above national average)
New Haven has historically had the highest rate of violent crime on the east coast. The impoverished, crime-ridden parts of the city stand in stark contrast to affluent Fairfield county to the West, and elite Yale University, which is located within the city itself. The number of murders in the city doubled last year. New Haven has the eighth highest rate of robbery and the fourth highest rate of assault in the U.S. The New Haven Police Department is considering adding cameras at every intersection in one of the neighborhoods where shootings are the most common.
5. Memphis, Tenn.
Population: 673,650
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 15.4
2010 Murders: 89
Median Income: $34,203 (31.8% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 9.9% (0.9% above national average)
Memphis has high rates for all the violent crimes considered for 24/7 Wall St.'s rankings. It has the sixth highest rate in the country. Incidents of violent crime in the city dropped slightly less than 15% between 2009 and 2010 though. Memphis Mayor AC Wharton attributes this decrease to Operation Safe Community, a citywide plan developed in 2005. The plan consists of a number of strategies meant to increase crime prevention, through toughening punishments for criminals, and the effectiveness of the city's legal system, through changes such as expanding court programs so that they operate consistently and at full capacity.
6. Oakland, Calif.
Population: 409,723
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 15.3
2010 Murders: 90
Median Income: $51,473 (2.4% above national average)
Unemployment Rate: 11% (2% above national average)
Oakland's violent crime dropped about 5.5% between 2009 and 2010, from about 6,800 to 6,260. The city nevertheless has the tenth-highest rate of rape, the ninth-highest murder rate, and the second highest robbery rate in the country. In 2010, there were 7.12 robberies for every 1,000 Oakland residents. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Mayor Jean Quan has attempted to combat break-ins and theft by creating programs to keep potential wrongdoers off the streets by starting late-night basketball programs. It it unclear if these policies have worked.
7. Little Rock, Ark.
Population: 192,922
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 15.2
2010 Murders: 25
Median Income: $38,992 (22.3% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (2.2% below national average)
Little Rock has one of the highest rates of aggravated assault and forcible rape in the country. Since 2009, reported assaults has increased while reported forcible rapes have decreased. According to Lt. Terry Hastings of the Little Rock Police Department, quoted by local station FOX16, Little Rock was "down almost 12 percent across the board on crime" in 2010. This may be accurate for many crimes, and especially nonviolent crimes, however, according to FBI data, violent crime increased from 2009 to 2010.
8. Baltimore
Population: 639,929
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 14.6
2010 Murders: 223
Median Income: $38,772 (22.7% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (1.6% below national average)
Baltimore had the eighth-highest rate of violent crime per capita in 2010 among cities with 100,000 or more residents, and the second-highest east of the Mississippi. The number of violent crimes has dropped slightly in the past year -- from 9,600 to 9,300 -- but the Maryland city has some of the worst rates of dangerous offenses in the country. This includes the tenth-worst aggravated assault rate -- and the fourth-worst murder rate in the country.
9. Rockford, Ill.
Population: 156,180
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 14.5
2010 Murders: 20
Median Income: $36,990 (26% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 13.3% (4.3% above national average)
Rockford has unusually high violent crime rates for a city of its size. Most notably, the city has the fourth highest rate of aggravated assault in the country, with 10.5 cases for every 1,000 citizens in 2010. During the same period, 20 murders occurred, almost double the number in 2000. Quoted by the Rockford Register Star in 2007, Winnebago County Sheriff Dick Meyers said that he believed the city's "location worked against [it,]" as Rockford receives traffic from the drug markets in Madison, Chicago, and Milwaukee, resulting in heightened rates of violence.
10. Stockton, Calif.
Population: 292,047
Violent Crime Per 1,000: 13.8
2010 Murders: 49
Median Income: $45,730 (8.9% below national average)
Unemployment Rate: 18.4% (9.4% above national average)
With a jobless rate of 18.4%, up from 18.1% a year ago, Stockton, California has one of the worst unemployment problems in the country. The huge percentage of unemployed residents may have contributed to horrible crime rates in the city, which is located 40 miles east of Oakland and San Francisco. Stockton was rated one of the most miserable cities to live in the country by Forbes in March, 2010. Violent crime was one of the chief measurements for its ranking. Of the 267 cities with populations over 100,000, Stockton has the 27th highest number of murders per 1,000 people and the 12th most aggravated assaults per 1,000. Last year, recognizing the crime problems in the city, the state temporarily diverted hundreds of California Highway Patrol officers to aid the city's overwhelmed police department.
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Fri May 27, 2011 4:31 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint ranks No. 1 in nation for burglaries per capita; Increase largely due to vacant home break-ins, officials say
Published: Friday, May 27, 2011, 12:05 PM Updated: Friday, May 27, 2011, 1:50 PM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
FLINT, Michigan — Home alone with her 1-year-old son, Jenny Hall’s typical weekday breakfast routine quickly spiraled into something much more sinister.
The Flint mother had seen her older children off to school and was leading her youngest to the kitchen for his morning sippy cup of milk when a glance inside nearly stole her breath away.
The back door to her Mott Park house — usually bolted shut — was swinging wide open in the wind.
“They had crowbarred my door open,” she said of the 2009 incident. “I ran outside and called police. I didn’t know if they were in my house.”
Burglaries have become an all-too common trend in the city, and no neighborhood is immune.
Flint is now the nation’s No. 1 city for break-ins and overall violent crimes per capita, according to preliminary FBI statistics released this week.
Flint had 3,648 reported burglaries last year — about as many as New Orleans, a hurricane-ravaged city with more than three times the population.
An average of more than one in every 15 homes and businesses in Flint was burglarized in 2010, according to a Flint Journal calculation of the reported crimes.
Hall and her neighbors live that statistic every day.
She can walk out her front door and point to the house where her neighbor pretended to be asleep while thieves ransacked his belongings, or the vacant house where burglars stole all the piping and took off.
Burglaries aren’t always a priority for a police department that also is dealing with high rates of shootings, homicides and other more violent crimes. Residents say police response times to break-ins have been varied since 66 officers were laid off last year.
But perhaps most disturbing to Hall and some of her neighbors is when the burglaries are occurring.
It’s not in the middle of the night. Sometimes it’s not even when no one is watching.
Betsy Duso, a 40-year resident of Mott Park, practices a good-neighbor policy, keeping an eye on the homes around her and hoping her neighbors do the same.
Last week, in broad daylight, she saw a guy wiggling his way out of a living room window at a vacant house across the street. She ran for her camera while her husband dialed 911, but by the time she was ready to document the crime, the thief had disappeared.
“Nothing is surprising me anymore,” she said of the incident. “But Mott Park is a strong neighborhood, and we’re hoping to take it back.”
Flint police Capt. T.P. Johnson said most of the “breaking and entering” crimes are occurring in empty houses, not surprising in a city that’s 21 percent vacant. The largest draw seems to be copper pipes, aluminum siding and other scrap metal that can be sold for a quick profit, he said.
“There are a lot more daytime B&Es than there ever have been,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s desperate people in desperate financial situations or if there are so many more vacant houses or both. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Most burglars want to avoid contact with the homeowner at all costs and usually are quick to flee if they find someone at home, much like what happened when Hall’s back door was pried open.
But even though a burglary isn’t considered a violent crime, it can have a major effect on its victims.
“It makes you feel violated and angry,” said Duso, who still remembers how she felt when her home was burglarized 20 years ago.
Johnson said the increase in burglaries is a trend to be concerned about because a confrontation could turn into something more violent.
A Flint man in February came home to find three armed thieves rifling through his belongings. One of the burglars shot at him, and he fired back before the thieves jumped out of a bedroom window.
No one was hit in that incident, but that’s not always the case.
A teenager was shot and later died this month after trying to break into a home on Roselawn Drive near Cloverlawn Street, police said. The woman warned the 16-year-old that she would shoot if he continued to enter the home, Johnson said.
“People are going to take matters into their own hands, and it’s going to get scary,” Hall said.
The spike in crime is related to the downturn in the economy, 1st Ward Councilman Delrico Loyd said. Making matters worse are the police response times, which have increased in the past couple of years as the police force shrank because of budget cuts and layoffs, he said.
Loyd knows firsthand what it’s like to have your home invaded.
The day he was re-elected in 2009, burglars broke into Loyd’s north-side home in the middle of the day and stole clothes and money.
“It’s happening more and more and more, and the criminals are getting bolder and bolder in their actions,” he said. “Residents are, of course, getting scared and afraid.”
But the Mott Park group and others around the city are refusing to be helpless or let thieves run them out of their neighborhoods.
Hall, Duso and their neighbors have learned that residents who band together are able to make a difference. Through the Mott Park Facebook page and the Mott Park Crime Watch, neighbors have created a notification system to alert each other of suspicious behavior.
A crime watch is one of the best tools in a neighborhood’s arsenal, Johnson said.
In addition to watchful eyes, Johnson said it’s also important for residents to have locks on their windows and doors. And one of the lessons some people learn the hard way is that a door is only as good as a doorjamb.
“But mainly it’s the good-neighbors thing,” he said. “The police department is doing the best we can with the resources we have under this cloud.
“When we decide as a community that we’re not going to tolerate crime is when crime will stop or begin to go down.” |
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Fri May 27, 2011 3:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint homicides this year surpassing pace of record 2010
Published: Friday, May 27, 2011, 8:00 AM Updated: Friday, May 27, 2011, 8:48 AM
By David Harris | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
(Ryan Garza | The Flint Journal)Balloons tied to a fence at the intersection of Dupont Street and Jasmine Avenue in Flint in April where two men were found dead on after being shot early Sunday morning, according to police.
FLINT, Michigan — If Flint wants to lose its title as the most violent city in America, it’s not off to a good start.
As of Thursday, the city had 25 homicides — four more than it had at the same time last year.
Flint didn’t reach 25 homicides last year until June 11 and went on to a city record of 66 homicides.
The continued killing this year frustrates residents, especially those who are touched by violence.
“(The crime) has inundated the community so much that kids aren’t able to play in front of their house,” said Heather Kale, whose friend Kim Weidenhammer was stabbed to death in her home in February. “The violence has impacted us in a way that you don’t have a sense of community.”
FBI statistics released this week put Flint’s per-capita homicide rate at 59.5 victims per 100,000 people in 2010. Second-place New Orleans is about 49 per 100,000 residents. St. Louis, Baltimore and Detroit round out the top five.
Flint’s rate is nearly double that of Detroit’s, which is about 34 per 100,000.
FBI statistics also show Flint had the most violent crime rate — murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault and robbery — of any city of more than 100,000 in the nation.
Flint is No. 1 in murders, aggravated assaults, burglary and arson, according to the figures.
Flint’s continued homicide problem doesn’t surprise Dallas Drake of the Minneapolis-based Center for Homicide Research, which studied Flint’s 2010 homicides. The study maintained that homicides in Flint are an epidemic.
“Most of the nation has seen a dramatic reduction in crime,” said Drake. “I don’t think that the residents in Flint or the leadership realize the importance of what’s happening in Flint. (Flint’s murder rate) is going up, where everywhere else’s is going down.”
The father of one of the city’s latest homicide victims is searching for answers. Tyree Kerr, 21, was gunned down after an argument early Saturday at a house party on Swayze Street, near Corunna Road. Flint police have identified a 21-year-old man as a person of interest, but he remains at large.
“It was devastating to lose my son in a violent situation,” said Tyrone Williams, 55, of Flint. “I didn’t think nothing like that would happen to him.”
While the nation’s murder rate last year declined more than 4 percent compared with 2009, Flint’s increased by an alarming 80 percent.
The homicide rate has slowed somewhat this year since April.
During one particularly violent period in April, six homicides occurred in six days. Since then, the city has logged four homicides during the past seven weeks.
But with warmer weather approaching, recent history indicates the pace of the slayings could increase. Last year, 43 of Flint’s homicides occurred after June 1.
The 2010 homicide record came as the city laid off 46 police officers. The city avoided more cuts after Flint voters this month approved a 2-mill renewal for police services. Residents, however, rejected a 2-mill increase that some argued would have cut crime by reopening the city jail.
City officials are counting on programs, such as the new Ceasefire effort, and partnerships with community pastors help quell some of the violence.
Ceasefire, which aims to give selected career criminals the choice of changing their lives or going to jail, was introduced a year ago but has been slow to get off the ground.
Leaders here have been meeting for months and said in January that they identified 20 to 30 candidates for the program.
Police Chief Alvern Lock said there will be “tangible results” within the next month.
“When this is started we believe that the residents of the areas will begin to see crime drop in the areas targeted,” Lock said in an email. “I will not give too many details right now (as) those are in the final stages of being worked out. I believe this will impact what the residents of these areas will see as crime reduction.”
City Council President Jackie Poplar said she also believes the program will work. She said the city is being “held hostage” by 70 high-level criminals.
“Once you get the top players (of criminals), the rest of them are going to fall by the wayside because they are being led,” Poplar said. “You have a group of leaders that are leading people that don’t have anywhere to go. The crime leaders, they prey on the weak and the young. That’s why we have to stop the head part, and we can get to the rest of them.”
Lock said any program must have citizen involvement.
“With the help of residents, this can work. We must get citizens involved in this process for it to work,” he said. “I believe we will.” |
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Fri May 27, 2011 3:29 pm |
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