This week in the notebook:
- Shootings down in CVI zones
- Fireworks curfew set
- Air monitors coming to Detroit
- New polling shows voter insights
Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
When a young Detroiter was shot, community violence workers visited him in the hospital and implored him not to seek revenge.
“In that situation it’s hard to tell a person what to do, but we have to do it because gun violence has to stop,” said Terence “C-Mo” Hampton.
Hampton shared the anecdote during a Tuesday update on Detroit’s “ShotStoppers” program, as an example of how the city’s gun-violence prevention program is interrupting cycles of violence.
The city invested $10 million in federal funds to pay grassroots organizations working to reduce shootings in violent ZIP codes.
“We step in and de-escalate situations,” Hampton said. “We are trained and informed, and that’s how we serve our people.”
City officials reported new performance data in the third quarter since the program started in 2023.
Four of six groups hired by the city experienced greater reductions in homicides and non-fatal shootings compared to the city overall (20%).
Hampton is a violence interrupter with FORCE Detroit, working in a west side area including the Warrendale and Franklin Park neighborhoods. Homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped 67% in the area where FORCE Detroit is active.
FORCE Detroit uses known-community figures, who often “come from the streets” themselves, to mentor young people who are caught up in dangerous lifestyles.
Dujuan “Zoe” Kennedy said intervenors practice “relentless engagement” informed by cognitive behavioral therapy training to help young people make better decisions. Kennedy said they also offer services to address the needs of families surrounded by violence.
Kennedy said a major part of their job is monitoring social media to get ahead of conflicts before a situation turns violent.
“Law enforcement does a good job monitoring crime and addressing crime,” Kennedy said. “We do a good job at monitoring disrespect and addressing disrespect.”
Hampton said there’s often signs of beef between young men online, if you know where to look. Community violence intervenors watch Instagram live streams and search for posts about guns to inform their efforts.
Detroit 300 also operates on the west side, in an area including the Grandmont and Hubbell-Lyndon neighborhoods. Organizers found limited results from citizen patrols, and quickly embraced FORCE Detroit’s community engagement approach after seeing the success nearby.
Neighborhoods where Detroit 300 are active had an increase in shootings and homicides during the second quarter. After implementing FORCE Detroit’s strategies, Detroit 300 recorded a 42% reduction within its impact area.
“We found individuals in the community who are neighborhood influencers,” said Raphael Johnson, a founder of Detroit 300. “These are individuals that can go into areas where there’s beef, that can know where there is tension that can lead to shootings and prevent those shootings.”
Michael Peterson, program administrator for the city, said that’s by design: Groups can learn from each other as the program continues.
“Groups that are showing interpersonal relationships, that are actually going to the individuals and meeting them where they’re at, they’re the ones that have been showing the most success,” Peterson said.
Detroit 300 also helps escort children to and from school, provides safe passage for employees leaving small businesses at night, attends block parties and patrols gas stations.
Groups that show a larger reduction in homicides and non-fatal shootings compared to the city at-large can receive performance bonuses to fund their operations. Four of six organizations received bonuses for the third quarter.
Two areas had smaller reductions in gun violence. Detroit People’s Community posted a 22% reduction.
A partnership between Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, the Denby Neighborhood Alliance and Camp Restore had a 9% decrease in the third quarter.
The initial $10 million in funding allowed the “ShotStoppers” program to continue until next fall. City officials and community groups are hopeful that proving success will make it easier to fund the program longer term.
Peterson said Detroit is advocating for state legislation that would distribute public safety funds to cities proportionally based on violent crime rates.
“It’s been a long time coming, this partnership with the city, and they showed up like true partners,” Kennedy said. “There’s bipartisan support for making this sustainable. We’ve proven that it works.”
The city contracted this month with the University of Michigan to provide data analysis that will better measure the impact of the “ShotStoppers” program.
Researchers at the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study will evaluate data and conduct resident focus groups. The $337,025 contract is also funded with pandemic relief dollars.
What page are we on?
Today’s notebook covers the June 18 formal session. Council Member Mary Waters was absent for a handful of votes but later joined the meeting.
Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.
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Thanks to everyone who came out to our Tuesday town hall on elections and voting. It’s the first of many summer conversations we’re hosting this year. I want to pass on this quote from Branden Snyder at Detroit Action, amid all the chatter about Trump trying to appeal to Black men.
“Black men don’t feel like they’re being talked to by anybody,” Snyder said. “They feel like the stuff that’s being talked to is square, the stuff being talked to them is over their head. You don’t have to have decisions made for you, that’s the only reason that we vote. It’s a Yelp review on the people in power. It’s not a coronation. It’s an opportunity to cast judgement on the people in power.”
Fireworks curfew set for June 24
The City Council approved an annual curfew for unaccompanied minors during the upcoming Ford Fireworks display over the Detroit River.
The curfew begins at 8 p.m. on June 24 and ends at 6 a.m. the following morning. It prohibits minors 18 and under from being on any public street, sidewalk, park or unchaperoned area.
The curfew is in effect within an area bounded by the Detroit River, Third Street, the Lodge Freeway (M-10), the Fisher Freeway (I-75), Gratiot Avenue, Vernor Highway, Chene Street, Atwater Street, and the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater.
Breaking the curfew can result in a misdemeanor or fine. Police reported 18 curfew tickets were issued last year.
Climate impacts hit Detroit
Members of the City Council’s Green Task Force encouraged Detroit officials to take a series of actions to protect the city against extreme weather and improve sustainability.
The task force said it’s working on a complete streets ordinance with Council Member Latisha Johnson to ensure Detroit roads are safe for all users. Continued investment in neighborhood streetscapes was also promoted to improve walkability.
Task force members advocated for adding stormwater infrastructure, tree plantings and removing unnecessary pavement to make the city more resilient to flooding.
They’re also trying to promote more participation in the city’s free curbside recycling program. Task force members said 41% of households are signed up.
Detroit’s recycling rate is increasing slowly — 4% of the city’s total waste was diverted from landfills in 2021, which increased to 8% in 2022 and 2023. The task force hopes that 30% of waste will be composted or recycled by 2030.
Earlier this year, the City Council approved an ordinance requiring large buildings to report their energy and water usage The energy benchmarking ordinance will collect the first round of data in October.
Detroit is expected to benefit from government subsidies to reduce home energy costs. Michigan is in line to receive $211 million in home energy rebate funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, which can be used to offset the cost of energy efficient upgrades.
Task force member Erma Leaphart said Detroit should take advantage of federal funding provided by the Biden administration to protect residents from extreme heat, flooding events and poor air quality.
“We really don’t have a choice,” Leaphart said. “The climate change beast is upon us.”
Leaphart also expressed support for the city’s plan to power municipal buildings using solar fields in neighborhoods that volunteer. Homeowners in the footprint of proposed solar fields can receive a buyout from the city to relocate.
Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway said she supports solar fields in Detroit, but not in majority-Black neighborhoods or parks.
Air monitoring network takes shape
Five air monitors will be installed to track pollution in Detroit neighborhoods.
The new monitors are part of a citywide network prioritizing communities that are disproportionately impacted by poor air quality. Data from the monitors will be publicly posted and presented twice per year at meetings in each council district.
Detroit plans to assign a project manager from the Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department to oversee the project.
A $2267,350 contract with Pennsylvania-based Teledyne Isco was approved. The deal was partially paid for through an EPA grant.
The Green Door Initiative is a lead partner in this project and will lead community education and outreach. A community working group will be established within each council district to serve as a resource for residents.
DDOT buses go green
The council approved a $45.2 million contract for 45 hybrid buses as it continues to modernize its fleet with energy efficient vehicles.
An agreement with New Flyer of America, Inc. was approved for heavy-duty transit buses used by the Department of Transportation. Each bus is roughly $1 million and will replace vehicles purchased in 2012.
Council Member Scott Benson said the new buses help advance the city’s sustainability goals. Fully electric buses are not feasible, he said, because the batteries lose some of their capacity in cold weather.
Voter engagement in 2024 elections
New polling from Outlier Media and the University of Michigan provides insight into how Detroit voters are thinking about upcoming elections.
The poll includes 1,100 Detroiters who were surveyed online or over the phone in April. It found 81% of Detroit voters plan to cast a ballot in the November presidential election and 82% are registered to vote at their current address.
Detroiters who are unlikely to vote said the top two reasons are because they don’t believe their vote matters or they don’t like either of the candidates.
Roughly 45% of Detroiters who said they are undecided about voting in November felt there were no good candidates in the race.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are trying to court Black voters in recent campaign events. Roughly 51% of registered voters cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election, with 94% supporting Biden and 5% supporting Trump.
The poll found inflation is the top issue federal officials should address, followed by healthcare, public safety, employment and affordable housing.
The Detroit Free Press also released polling of Black voters in Michigan that found 54% support Biden, compared to 15% for Trump and 8% for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The poll found 15% of Black voters were undecided or refused to answer.
The poll found 67% of Black voters will vote for Biden again after supporting him in 2020. Four percent said they were backing Trump instead while 17% said they prefer a third-party candidate.
A quarter of Black voters in Michigan consider themselves independent, while 56% consider themselves Democrats and 10% are Republicans.
Fewer Detroiters typically vote in state and local elections. Turnout was 34% in 2022 elections for governor and other statewide seats.
Turnout was 19% in 2019 elections for mayor, City Council and other local seats.
The Outlier Media/U-M poll found most Detroiters don’t believe local representatives care about what residents think, with 20% saying elected leaders don’t care at all and 39% saying they care “a little.”
A similar number of residents felt they can’t affect what the local government does (19%), though 68% felt they can make a difference.
Voters cited safety as the top issue Detroit leaders should address, followed by blight, affordable housing, street repair and neighborhood cleanliness.
Detroit Athletic Center expands patio
The Detroit Athletic Club purchased a vacant, city-owned lot to expand its outdoor event and café area.
The council approved a $34,300 sales offer from the DAC for the 3,430 square feet.
The property is located within the so-called Governor and Judges Plan created after Detroit burned in 1805. It was created by Augustus Woodward, a judge appointed to the Michigan Territory, but only partially implemented.
Police commissioner appointed
The council narrowly appointed Eva Garza-DeWaelsche to the Board of Police Commissioners after a vote was delayed last week.
Garza-DeWaelsche is a former Detroit Police Department officer who served on the oversight board for nine years. She was appointed by a 4-3 vote.
Council Members Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Whitfield-Calloway and Johnson voted against the appointment.
Whitfield-Calloway previously expressed concerns about former police officers serving on the board, but council members did not discuss the issue before voting at Tuesday’s meeting.
Local scooter company denied
Larry Hill, owner of C-Max Scooters, asked the City Council to help him obtain a permit after his company was snubbed.
The council passed its first set of electric scooter regulations last year requiring companies to receive approval before deploying their equipment in Detroit.
The Office of Mobility Innovation recommended licensing C-Max, along with Lime, Spin, Bird and Boaz Bikes. Hill said his company was later denied, partially based on being considered too small.
“After the permit was denied, it financially devastated my family and my employees,” Hill said.
Hill said C-Max is one of only two Black-owned scooter companies in the city, along with Boaz Bikes. His company had provided 10,000 e-scooters rides in the last four years.
Richard Noto, president of the Western Corktown Association block club, advocated for Hill. Noto said C-Max scooters are better maintained than other companies, and the city should support local business owners.
Event permit headaches continue
Council members are seeking solutions to improve the permit approval process for events in the city.
The Metro Detroit Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation held a “Juneteenth Freedom Fest” on Sunday, but the City Council was asked to approve a permit for the event Tuesday. Whitfield-Calloway said the late request is indicative of a larger problem.
“These events come to us after they already occurred, we just say yes to everything,” she said. “I’m trying to demand some respect around here. It’s been going on for years.”
Yakeima Fife, an administrative assistant for the city, said the permit was submitted within 60 days of the event as required but it took additional time for city officials to nail down details with the organizer.
Fife said the city receives 30 petitions for events each month, and tries to work with organizers to accommodate all events.
Council members previously called for a review of events permitting procedures after police shut down unapproved activities at Detroit’s annual Cinco de Mayo event.
Council President Mary Sheffield said the council should have a larger discussion about the approval process.
“A lot of people are concerned,” she said.
It’s inspiring to hear about Detroit’s “ShotStoppers” program and its impact on reducing gun violence. Community violence workers like Terence “C-Mo” Hampton play a crucial role in breaking the cycle of violence by intervening and offering guidance during critical moments. The city’s investment of $10 million in federal funds to support grassroots organizations highlights the importance of community-driven solutions. For those interested in the broader context of gun control and its implications, this https://papersowl.com/examples/gun-control/ analysis on gun control offers valuable insights. Programs like these demonstrate the power of community and targeted intervention in creating safer neighborhoods.