Violent weekend in Detroit: 17 scenes, 7 dead, 14 hurt

[FrodosPet]

The good people of Detroit need to be rescued from the poverty, crime, and helplessness they are suffering. Seeing stories like this is heartbreaking and frustrating.
[hr]

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/05/09/multiple-weekend-shootings-detroit/84131718/

Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press 1:05 p.m. EDT May 9, 2016

A bloody Mother's Day weekend in Detroit left seven people dead and 14 others injured in 17 shootings across the city, according to Police Chief James Craig, who said it was the second-most-violent weekend of the year.

"Again, when you talk about the recent spate of violence, especially involving children starting on Easter, that drives a lot of fear and we recognize that," Craig said Monday at a news conference. "That's why the initiative, Taking Back Our Neighborhoods, one neighborhood at a time does have value. ...I'll say it and it may infuriate some, but the city's become desensitized to violence over the years. ... I just know it was almost an acceptance if you will, 'Well Detroit's going to be violent.' I'm suggesting that that's not the way life should be. We're moving in the right direction."

Craig said the shootings took place from Friday through Sunday, including one shooting that left one person dead and four others wounded Friday night on the city’s east side and the fatal shooting of a man Sunday night in southwest Detroit. Of all the shootings this weekend, only two people are in custody so far, but Craig said investigators are continuing to work on the cases.

~ snip ~

"I don't like to use the word snitch when we talk about the people in our neighborhoods," Craig said. "I use the word cooperation and that does happen. When we talk about no snitching, no snitching is only recognized in the criminal culture. What we're seeing a lot of times in these shooting incidents, it could be criminal on criminal, they're not talking and we do know that people know what happens. ... So shame on you if you know something and you're not saying anything because you're part of the problem."

[Eleanors38]

1. The "no snitch" ethic is an indicator that criminal culture is in dominance.

In fact, it suggests that criminal culture is institutionalized and more powerful than other institutions, like family, church, school, and governmemt. It is heartening that there has been improvement in the crime numbers. Great care should be exercised in finding those policies, if any, which caused this decline.

[romanic]

2. Sad but true.

Last edited Tue May 10, 2016, 08:40 PM - Edit history (1)

The source of the problem imo though isn't just a no-snitch culture, it's a broken family culture too. So many of these gang members were born in a household with no father figure or a home where both parents were either fighting so much or were criminals themselves. These kids join gangs not only because it's "cool" or for the cash game; they do it to be apart of some kind of family unit. It's tragic.

[FrodosPet]

3. This makes sense on a universal scale

Criminal gangs, religions and cults, terrorist groups: they give a sense of belonging. Granted, it is a dysfunctional, socially destructive family, but a family nevertheless.

Detroit, Flint, Newark, Baltimore, Chicago, Saint Louis, and more have tragic problems with crime and poverty. There is no single cause, and there is no single cure.

It's going to take money. Alas, as a practical matter, more than anyone can get their hands on. And it is going to take effort. Counseling of the angry and the alienated. It is going to take volunteerism, helping neighbors keep their houses clean and safe. It is going to take jobs, close enough to reach, and paying enough for people to survive and participate in the economy.

And it is going to take natural and extended families being families. Providing support and positive guidance. This, more than threats of imprisonment and financial destruction, will help so many people have a much safer and more fulfilling life.