Letter to Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2011 re: Detroit Police Department


Dear editor:

There comes a time in most professions when an individual, by repeatedly demonstrating an inability to perform the task for which he or she is charged, must leave or be removed. In Major League Baseball, the ineffective player may be sent to the minor leagues. In football, the player may be released. In business, the CEO is terminated. In politics, the voters have the option to turn the person out of office.  That time is clearly past due for the Detroit Police Department, and particularly for the Chief of Police Ralph Godbee Jr. The Detroit Police Department has over and over again shown that it is incapable of effectively performing its primary task of fighting crime.

As Gina Damron reported in the August 14, 2011, Sunday Free Press ("A Day's Gunfire in Detroit"), as of Monday, August 8, 2011, there have been 215 homicides in Detroit, an increase of 32 from 2010. Contrast this disturbing and unacceptable trend to Los Angeles. The August 12, 2011 New York Times reported ("In Los Angeles: A Police Force Transformed" by Adam Nagourney) that LA's violent crime rate has declined for nine straight years. And that the number of homicides in Los Angeles will likely be under 300 for the second straight year. From this Detroiter's perspective, what is most disturbing is that Los Angeles has approximately 4 million residents, compared to Detroit's 700,000. Do the math.  Detroit's murder rate is 500% - 5 times - that of Los Angeles. What is even more remarkable about this is that Los Angeles has fewer uniformed officers per capita than Detroit!

In spite of the many hard working professional police officers in its ranks, the Detroit Police Department, by most salient metrics, has failed in its mission.  Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdon has enlisted former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton to advise the British Police on methods to fight street crime. The City of Detroit should do the same. Promoting from within its ranks perpetuates ineffective policing.

Thomas E. Page