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Crime rate in Detroit and its effects on the city
Crime rates and its affects
Link between culture and crime
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Detroit city used to be the most dazzling symbol of the American dream. For a century, it has witnessed the prosperity and decline of the American auto industry. But right now, all these things are gone. Under depression and crumbling, Detroit is like an old man entered the twilight years. Crime is a really big problem in Detroit right now. On September 30, 2008, there was a man gunned down as he walked out the church doors of his mother’s funeral. As if this sight wasn’t shocking enough, some of the members that were attending the funeral drew guns and returned fire at the gunmen. The pastor of the church, Rev. Walter Cheeks had this to say: “Next thing I know I look up and then everybody shooting, I mean I never had seen nothing like it.”
A scene that seems so surreal was very realistic on this day in Detroit. On June 30, 2009 two masked men, while standing at a public bus stop, shot seven summer school students. Three of the victims were in critical condition. The victims range between the ages 14-17. The incident is assumed to be gang related and the target was a 16-year-old male. Statistics from 2003 shows Detroit had the highest crime rate. In 2003 alone Detroit accumulated a total of 18,724 violent crimes with murder leading the way at an astonishing 5.16 times the nations. As of July 2009 the murder rate in Detroit has risen twenty percent with 216 people murdered from January through July 2009. Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans said, “It’s the Wild West out there.” Detroit’s school system has fallen into a rut with an estimated thirty-two schools set to be closing in June 2010 alone. Due to Detroit Public Schools $317 million budget deficit 8,000 students are estimated to decrease from the 87,000 enrolled the year prior (Detroit to Close 32 Public Schools). This means students will have to find new schools to attend and for many students this means traveling across the city, in my opinion this is not such a good idea. I’m not actually sure where the city of Detroit went wrong, but I do believe it will rise again someday. Many people believe Detroit has seen its best days and they’re long gone.
In February 1998, Watertown, SD, was not bursting with riveting activity. Watertown had a population of 20,127 people in 1998, which is not much less than the 22,000 residents it has today. Brenda Barger was mayor of Watertown, SD, during the years of some of the worst flooding ever in Watertown. Although the little town of Watertown seems like the perfect rural town to raise a family, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows. On February 1, it was reported that two teenage girls were accused of beating a 47 year-old man to death in his home. David Paul Bauman died of a head injury caused by the girls. Bauman was currently unemployed and mildly disabled due to a car accident a number of years earlier (“2 Teen-agers Arrested in Watertown Killing”
On June 21, the city of Detroit exploded as racial tensions finally reached their boiling point. Various news organizations, such as Time and Newsweek, covered the story. At the time of the riots, none of the reported accounts of the uprising matched. The most disputed facts were the discrepancies regarding why the riot started, the number of deaths and injuries, and the exact time the riot began. Yet, most news sources reported that around six hundred people were taken into cu...
The news often reports on crime within Black, urban neighborhoods, but seldom does that same viewing public get to see what is truly happening in these communities, and their thoughts and views are shaped just from what they perceive of TV. In Alice Goffman’s book On the Run, Goffman takes a deeper look into urban, Black men’s relationship with the police, and lets the reader see the situation from a side not commonly shown on the news.
When help presented itself, many of the people at least made an effort to change and realize that violence was not the answer. The amount of people that are shot and killed in Chicago is a surprising number. Many of the violence does not come from someone necessarily being a bad person, but someone who is unwilling to back down from any situation (Kotlowitz, 2012). In Chicago many believe that “death before dishonor” is a good motto to live life by (Kotlowitz, 2012). The funerals that people attend are just a reminder to them, that one day the way they live their lives on the street will catch up to them (Kotlowitz, 2012). The violence interrupters are working hard in Chicago to help the people in the society, but if people do not want to change it is hard to make a difference (Kotlowitz, 2012). The people in Chicago also have to put in the work to make the community a better place, so that they feel safe leaving their houses instead of feeling like “every time [they] go outside somebody is going to get killed” (Kotlowitz,
The spatial isolation present in Detroit deepened anti-integration sentiment, and the resulting shift of whites out of the Rust Belt led to conditions conducive to deindustrialization. However, Sugrue notes that “[racial prejudices] are the result of the actions of federal and local governments, real estate agents, individual home buyers and sellers, and community organizations” (11). That is to say white flight is a phenomenon dependent on political climate rather than being an entirely intrinsic, prejudiced practice of whites. This is an important distinction to make, as it helps reinforce the idea that systems such as poverty and racism are exactly that—systems, and not a result of individual immorality. The same can be said for the urban crisis in Detroit: as opposed to being purely an issue of deindustrialization or poverty, Sugrue argues that the circumstances of Detroit may be in part an institutional problem. “The shape of the postwar city, I contend, is the result of political and economic decisions, of choices made and not made by various institutions, groups and
When horrific crimes occur in large cities, many of them can be chalked up to gang violence or to the larger population of that specific city. But when horrific crimes happen in small cities like Lincoln, Nebraska, people begin to ask questions like who did this and why. In 1958, a nineteen year old man named Charles Starkweather put the entire state of Nebraska and possibly the entire nation in a state of terror. With his murder spree taking only three days, Starkweather had collected a body count of ten bodies, including two teenagers and a young child. Understanding Starkweather’s past and state of mind begins to answer the second question of why.
Looking back at the number of homicides in the city of San Jose, CA for the year 2000 it was 20, then there was an average increase of 8 murders per year for the next 8 years. Then in 2010, despite a population increase of over one hundred thousand people, there were only 20 murders in the city of San Jose. Now in 2011, up to the month of July, there have been 26 homicides, which means based upon the current rate San Jose is on track to have more than 50 homicides in 2011, which would theoretically be over a two decade maximum. Now despite having lived in a small town, I consider San Jose as a home away from home because I go there often. I have had a job there and my dad has worked in San Jose for 28 years. In 2009 the San Jose area was rated as the seventh safest area in the country and when that happened it made me feel thankful that my family and I have lived in such a safe area. Yet nowadays it seems like I have been reading about a different murder every week, which has caused me to ask many questions about the possible causes of this rise in murders. From the research I have done, the cause seems to be a rise in gang violence and rival gang murders. In San Jose, the two rival gangs, Norteños and Sureños, have begun to be bolder with their killings as shown with the already high and rising murder rate of 2011. Solutions must be determined in conjunction with the San Jose Police Department and governmental gang task forces to establish the best course of action to stop the continuing rise in violence (Associated Press).
Since the time of slavery, racial tension has existed between whites and blacks. This tension has only increased with the passing of time. This conflict culminated in the 1940s in the form of mob violence. While there have been previous riots because of race relations, none of them were of the magnitude of the 1943 Detroit riot. Much like any other event involving racism in the 1940s, the Detroit riot has little coverage, most of which is skewed, in articles in the nation?s leading news sources such as ?Deep Trouble? in Time, ?Riotous Race Hate? in Newsweek, and ?The Truth About the Detroit Riot? in Harper?s. Thus, one must compare articles from these sources to ascertain accurate information. Even when comparing these accounts, the reader finds discrepancies in the causation and destruction of the Detroit riot. By analyzing these descriptions, one can also notice the similarities between the Detroit riot and other mob violence during that time period. For example, James Baldwin?s retelling of the Harlem riot in ?Notes of a Native Son? bears great similarities in causation and destruction with the Detroit riot.
The dramatic increase of gun violence in Chicago has many questioning the effectiveness of state policies and police tactics. For many Chicagoans, gun violence is a common occurrence and this would not be the first time in which a big spike has been observed. In fact, Chicago was doing well overall in each crime category until recently in 2016, when they ended the year with 762 homicides victims that were gun related. Towards the end of 2016, Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, had a press conference with the communities at the Malcom X College. He goes into detail of how he hopes to see a sharp decline on the heavy issue of gun violence surrounding their city. It’s an issue in which the mayor says will only work through a combined effort of its
In 1932 Wilhelm Valentiner commissioned Diego Rivera to construct a fresco to capture the true meaning of Detroit’s Industry. Rivera came to Detroit at a time when the great depression had hit hardest and he used this tumultuous time that had forced it’s way over the city as inspiration for his work. For it to embody the true significance of the industry in Detroit, he began the mural with a piece which symbolized a fruitful harvest, and more importantly, a new beginning. As Rivera progresses with his mural, it is evident what the the commercial meant by experiencing the finer things in life. From the early stages of assembly of the new 1938 Ford V8, to the finishing touches of the exterior and the diversity of the people working on these cars, and finally the negative implications of what technology and economic prosperity can bring. These aspects all encompass what Rivera intended when representing Industry in Detroit, as well as what it means for a city like Detroit to enjoy the finer things in life.
Bullets, fire and rage on the streets of Benton Harbor, Michigan. WSBT reporter Jennifer Kuk is on the scene (June 18)
The same issue that occurred in the 18th century is occurring in the 21st century and not just in Detroit, Michigan. In the painting, William Hogswarth illustrates everybody outside in the streets, a mother giving a baby gin to drink. The left side of the painting shows a man chewing on a bone with a dog. This can relate to the lifestyle occurring in Detroit. According to the Daily Kos, “The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, itself is in millions of dollars in debt, has begun shutting off water to 3,000 people a week”. Another example of a poor lifestyle in Detroit is the city shutting down streetlights. Another way this can relate to Detroit is the shutting down of streetlights. According to USA TODAY, almost half of the streetlights are out. A lot of people in Detroit cannot afford necessities. The same can go for the people in the painting, not being able to afford gin. Eventually, a poor lifestyle leads to a city full of
I can remember coming home one night to gun shots, just like every other night but this night was different; it struck a nerve with me, I began to look around and noticed the state of my neighborhood. I was thinking to myself, there has to be something that can be done, there has to be some way to take care of our neighborhood. Thinking of different ideas and doing research of different communities, I came with some ideas of how this can be done. Most neighborhoods stick together during terrible situations, have community meetings, and volunteer to clean up the neighborhood. The term “don’t snitch” is the reason violence in my neighborhood is the way it is; letting go of not being a “snitch” and standing up to the people who are committing
You can’t turn on the television, or read the paper without hearing about violence in our cities and world. In a report from “Stand Up for Kids” in Chicago, they analyze the relationship between low wages, income inequality, and the epidemic of violence in Chicago’s low income neighborhoods. This report found that in 2012 there were nearly 7,700 gun-related crimes reported in the city. The city of Chicago has the third highest overall metropolitan poverty rate in the nation. Nearly one quarter of all Chicago residents live below the federal poverty threshold according to this report. ("Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Decades of research have demonstrated that there is a statistically significant link between low wages, income inequality and crime. The analysis presented in this report shows that when a city’s economic conditions improve, the violent crime rates go down.( "Chicago Not Only Leads the Nation in Gun Violence Rates, but Also in Measures of Urban Poverty." Stand Up Chicago, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.) Parents and children are turning to violent acts to provide for their family needs. Policy makers and the government need to address the issues of persistent poverty and income inequality such as raising the minimum wage to a living wage and create satisfying jobs for the
Unemployment, economic downturns and instability are all products of poverty and all causes of crime. In turn, crime then leads to more poverty, thus creating one of the many cycles surrounding violence. (POVERTY). In the article “Violence in the African American Community as a Public Health Issue” it is discussed that the only way to fix the epidemic of violence in America is to take a multi-disciplinary approach which involves the unification of multiple legislatures and communities to help fix the defined and undefined poverty lines and stop violence. The author of this article mentions, “Poverty is like a disease, it gets passed on from generation to generation” (Chipman). By saying this, she expands on the idea poverty is a part of this endless cycle and the hope most people in under-developed areas should feel is likely lost because they feel as if they will never escape. She also includes piercing words which capture the reader’s attention and adds to the article. By creating a plan to help unemployment and increase income in families struck by poverty, the crime rates will go down because the outlook of these people’s lives will become