Drop in violence in Detroit tied to increased prosecutions, more public input on crimes

The Project Safe Neighborhood Team announced a year of great success in 2003; and a commitment to continue their work in 2004. From left, Former Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins, Assistant Chief of Police Harold Cureton, Alliance for a Safer Greater Detroit President Craig Yaldoo, Leven C. Weiss of DaimlerChrysler, Al Johnson of WJBK-FOX 2 and Special-Agent-In-Charge, Valerie Goddard of the ATF.

DETROIT — Gun prosecutions in federal and state courts continued to rise this year, helping to drive down the violent crime rate in Detroit, law enforcement authorities said Thursday.

The prosecutions, along with increased public input about crimes and a leveling off in shootings, are seen as the fruits of a partnership between federal and local authorities that began in April 2002.

Project Safe Neighborhoods, as it is known, is intended to seek the longest prison terms for gun crimes while encouraging gun safety through a public awareness campaign.

On Thursday, Jeffrey G. Collins, U.S. attorney for eastern Michigan, touted the doubling of gun cases referred to his office since 2001. That year, federal authorities here prosecuted 127 cases. Last year, it was 216, and so far this year, the number has increased to 252.

Federal convictions are up 61 percent, with average sentences of five years in prison. Since the program began, 2,016 people have been convicted in Wayne County Circuit Court of using a firearm while committing a felony, a crime with a mandatory two-year prison term.

Reported shootings in Detroit through November this year are down 2 percent from last year and down 21 percent from November 2001.

Some residents are noticing the drop in crime in their neighborhoods, said Lorraine Ozment, a longtime east side activist. But many feel protecting their safety is something they largely have to do for themselves, she said.

“A lot of people still feel like they have to protect themselves,” Ozment said, adding that the most pressing safety need is still for more police officers on patrol.

Marc Aloia of southwest Detroit said he’s noticed crime declining in his neighborhood.

“Things are getting back to how they used to be,” he said. “I think crime has gone down because the criminals have either went to jail or killed each other off.”

Federal and local authorities credited Safe Neighborhoods as a leading reason that Detroit is likely to post its lowest homicide count for a year since 1968, when it had 389. Through Monday, the city had 348, keeping it on pace for about one slaying per day. The city hasn’t had fewer than that since it had 281 killings in 1967.

The city’s murder rate has fallen 11 percent so far this year. By comparison, the murder rate nationally went up 1.1 percent in the first half of the year, according to preliminary FBI figures released earlier this week.

Detroit’s violent crime rate, however, remains far above the national average. San Antonio and San Jose — the two cities closest to Detroit in population — had 55 homicides combined in the first six months of the year. Detroit had posted 156.

Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Duggan said Detroit has made great strides. “We have turned the corner on the murder rate here in Detroit,” he said.

Duggan said the 2,016 people convicted of felony firearm charges since the inception of Safe Neighborhoods far outpaces the 646 convictions for a similar period before the program existed.

In addition to bringing down the number of homicides, the city’s other major crime categories have declined nearly 3.5 percent this year through September, according to police statistics.

Even as the city has made progress, it still faces uncertainty.

Two of the major figures in the crime-prevention equation — the Detroit police chief and the county prosecutor — are changing. Ella Bully-Cummings took over as police chief in October when Jerry A. Oliver Sr. resigned after he faced a gun charge himself. And Duggan is quitting his post next month to take over the troubled Detroit Medical Center.

Besides the prosecutions, Safe Neighborhoods has used billboards and the airwaves to encourage people to report crime to the Crime Stoppers tip line, (800) SPEAKUP. So far, the public has provided more than 600 tips leading to 421 arrests. The bulk of those, however, came from one call that sparked a Highland Park raid that yielded 330 arrests.

You can reach Ronald J. Hansen at (313) 222-2019 or rhansen@ detnews.com.