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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I have had some county officials support the use of the State Police in Flint because top law Enforcement Officials (LEO) don't trust our Flint Police. They believe they are connected to criminal elements in the community. If true, why hasn't there been an investigation?
Let's face it, the crime rate is escalating even as the Governor sends in more State Police. The complaints I hear about excessive force are about the State Police and the Sheriff Department. The State's solution to the violence is to just keep thowing ore State Troopers at it. Sorry, but it doesn't seem to be sticking! |
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Sat Jul 25, 2015 7:21 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/07/genesee_county_911_director_re.html#incart_river
Genesee County 911 director remembered for leadership in post
Roberto Acosta | racosta1@mlive.com By Roberto Acosta | racosta1@mlive.com
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on July 27, 2015 at 3:17 PM, updated July 27, 2015 at 4:04 PM
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The staff at Genesee County 911 is mourning the loss of their director.
David Ackley, deputy director, said 71-year-old Lloyd Fayling died Sunday, July 26, from complications after he was stung by wasps at his home in Shiawassee County's Bennington Township.
"He was the mentor for us all," said Ackley. He said Fayling was the first director ever of a county 911 in the state of Michigan. He served three decades with Michigan State Police, after beginning his law enforcement career in Kalamazoo in 1964.
"He's sort of the grandfather of 911," Ackley said.
A message from Michigan State Police said Fayling served as a trooper at posts in Houghton Lake and Romeo, before he was promoted to sergeant at headquarters. He retired from the Flint post as lieutenant in charge of the Genesee County 911 Dispatch Center, a position he held until his retirement in 1995.
"Fayling's dedication to service will be his legacy," reads the message. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."
He began his stint as director of the county's 911 system in 1996, after state police turned over control to local authorities, according to the 911 Consortium's website. Fayling organized a system and center funded with a countywide phone surcharge.
He also joined APCO, a nationwide organization linking public safety personnel and informing them on professional development, technical assistance and outreach in their communities. Ackley said he's been fielding calls and emails Monday, July 27, from as far away as Missouri and Iowa from people sharing their condolences.
Jamie Curtis, chairman of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, was saddened to hear the news of Fayling's death.
"It surely is a tragedy and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family," he said. Two commissioners sit on a 911 Consortium board that includes law enforcement members and public officials from across the county.
The Genesee County 911 center takes approximately 365,000 phone calls a year, or 1,000 each day, with a staff of 44 dispatchers, six supervisors and five administrative staff members, Ackley said. Fayling was a leader who inspired his staff to achieve anything.
Ackley said the biggest goal Fayling wanted to accomplish was a merger of county and Flint 911, which Curtis said will proceed forward.
"It's important to him," said Ackley of the merger, "because we've always felt at county 911 the best thing is a city-county 911."
Fayling had said the merger was expected to happen sometime in mid-August, after some delay in equipping some Flint police vehicles with in-car computers.
Darnell Earley, the former Flint emergency financial manager, announced plans in September 2014 for Flint to rejoin the county dispatch system nearly two decades after it created an independent operation.
The merger is expected to save Flint about $1 million a year compared to the cost of operating its own system.
Ackley said it was Fayling's belief that "we're the best 911 center in the country. He firmly believed it."
During time away from work family, Ackley said, "His life pretty much was his family, his wife and three sons, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter."
Lloyd Fayling is survived by his wife, Leslie, a retired state police dispatcher and three children.
Funeral information was not immediately available. |
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Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:55 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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ABC12 News Investigates: Crime and Punishment
Updated: Thu 6:43 PM, Jul 30, 2015
By: Jessica Dupnack - Email
GENESEE COUNTY (WJRT) - (07/30/15) - Families are waiting in agony for answers through the justice system.
Budgets have been slashed and officers cut, causing crimes to go unsolved. It's been the reality at police departments over the last decade.
ABC12 News is learning that crime and punishment don't always go hand-in-hand. ABC12's Jessica Dupnack took an in-depth look at the consequences of simply not having enough police.
Candy Gaines' daughter, 19-year-old Sarah June, was walking with her friend on a warm June night on Flint's east side.
Surveillance video from a nearby business shows the girls getting hit by an out of control driver believed to be drunk. The driver sped off and left the girls laying in the road, where they were run over repeatedly.
Both girls died.
"It's just so hard. It's not like she's gone to day camp. It's knowing that she is never going to be back," Gaines said.
The driver was found a few days later. Police say she was hiding out with friends. She was arrested, but then released.
Prosecutors said the police investigation was incomplete and didn't present enough evidence to press charges.
"You have to have proof beyond a reasonable doubt to convict somebody, and that's become very difficult to do," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.
Leyton said juries expect more nowadays. That's in part because of the crime show phenomenon that gives a misrepresentation of what investigators are actually capable of.
Gaines isn't the only one waiting for justice. Many Mid-Michigan families have similar stories to tell.
"It's not so much that the cases don't get worked on, it's that it takes so long to get things done," Leyton said.
The explanation for the long delays is a simple one.
"We just don't have enough police in Michigan," Leyton said.
The solution is not nearly that simple.
According to a study by the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, Michigan is the most violent state in the Midwest, yet the police to resident ratio is the lowest.
"If you look at the numbers, they are staggering. The police officers that have been lost in Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac over the years is really amazing," Leyton said.
Those numbers show police staffing dropped about by more then half in both Saginaw and Flint between 2000 to 2013.
"The City of Flint once had upwards of 300 police officers and today it's around 100. While the population has fallen, the levels of crime really have not," Leyton said.
Flint and Saginaw have crime rates five times the national average.
With fewer investigators, cases go unsolved.
"We have great detectives in Flint. They do an awesome job, but they are overworked, over burdened and it's because they have too many cases," Leyton said.
Flint's top cop says it's an everyday struggle to prioritize and organize investigator's workloads.
"It's not that we just take them and put them on a shelf somewhere. Someone has to look at it, someone has to say, 'Is there any resolvability,'" said Flint Police Chief James Tolbert.
The police department isn't the only agency working short-handed. An American Bar Association report says Genesee County prosecutors are handling double the recommended number of cases.
"I could use 65 prosecutors instead of the 35 that I have right now," Leyton said.
The effect of continuously dwindling budgets spreads well beyond Mid-Michigan. Our state ranks forty-ninth out of 50 in murder clearance rates.
"We've become creative and we are doing what we need to do to try to get this problem under control. Crime is down, but it's not near the level in needs to be," Leyton said.
"There is a wealth of police work that goes on in the city with dwindling resources and we are trying to find ways to improve that," Tolbert said.
Meanwhile, Gaines and her family have no choice but to wait.
"I know they have so much they can do and they don't have much manpower," Gaines said.
She says her daughter's memory gives her the strength to be patient until the day the driver who killed her is locked up.
"I want her to feel what I feel. It ain't fair. I don't have a daughter to laugh with and hold. The only thing I got is memories and pictures," Gaines said.
ABC12 News followed up with police on Sarah June's case. They said it is still being investigated, but it could be some time before there is enough evidence to press charges against the drunken driver. |
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Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:12 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The lack of adequate police numbers has a strong impact.
Many Flint detectives have been replaced by Michigan State Police. |
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Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:21 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/07/three_consultants_to_pitch_pla.html
Three companies to pitch transformation of Flint's Atherton East public housing
Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on July 28, 2015 at 11:40 AM, updated July 28, 2015 at 4:15 PM
Megan Hunter, director of planning and development for the city of Flint, answers questions about a $500,000 grant awarded to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in a January news conference at City Hall.
Flint Journal file photo
(This story has been updated to correct the date of a shooting death at Atherton East.)
FLINT, MI -- The city's planning and housing commissions have scheduled interviews with three consultants interested in developing plans for transforming Flint's distressed Atherton East public housing complex.
The city announced the interviews for the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Initiative in a news release.
Funded with a $500,000 federal grant, the initiative was announced in January and targets the Atherton East area for redevelopment -- potentially including demolition of the property, which is mainly occupied by single, low-income mothers.
Three firms -- Houseal Lavigne Associates, Camiros Ltd. and EJP Consulting Group LLC -- are scheduled to be interviewed starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, on the third floor of City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St.
"The public is invited and encouraged to attend the interviews where comment cards will be provided to record comments and other feedback," the city's announcement says. "This information will be considered by both commissions and city staff during the final selection process."
The $500,000 grant is for planning only during the next two years, which means that no significant changes will be happening immediately, the city's new release says.
A transformation plan developed with the grant will outline potential redevelopment, identify potential funding sources and detail the needs of the community.
Residents of Atherton East have complained of safety issues and said they need more police presence in their community.
Inside the grounds of the 192-unit complex, two people were killed Jan. 7, in 2014, a man was shot and killed, and in 2013, a mother and her 12-year-old daughter were found slain.
Dominic Adams | dadams5@mlive.com 4 days ago
Houseal Lavigne Associates worked on Flint's master plan. Read more here: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/07/master_plan_land_use_workshop.html |
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Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:25 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/01/flint_receives_500000_grant_to.htm
lFlint receives $500,000 grant to make plans for Atherton East apartments
Jiquanda Johnson | jjohns16@mlive.com By Jiquanda Johnson | jjohns16@mlive.com
on January 16, 2015 at 5:02 PM, updated January 16, 2015 at 8:12 PM
Atherton East
The $1.6 million federal grant to Flint Housing Commission is only a start toward what's needed, mayor says
Michigan counties get $3.2 million to fund public housing improvements
Flint receives $500,000 grant to make plans for Atherton East apartments
HUD plans to award $500,000 grant to Flint for distressed public housing
Flint Housing Commission exec says outsiders typically commit crimes on its property
FLINT, MI – City officials along with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a $500,000 grant for Flint that would help with planning for the future of crime-infested and blighted Atherton East.
"In recent decades, Flint has faced its share of economic adversity," said Michael Polsinelli, Director of Detroit's U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development field office in Detroit. "Development has been too scarce, investment has been limited and the struggle has been too familiar. But despite these challenges, Flint has always been rich with citizens and their ideas and their will and their ability to make things better in the face of adversity."
The grant is part of HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and will be used to help with the redevelopment of distressed public housing in the city. Flint was one of six cities chosen out of 51 applicants. This specific grant will target Atherton East on Flint's south side.
In 2014, there was talk of possibly demolishing the community.
"I think that it's a dialogue and a discussion," said Megan Hunter, director of planning and development for the city of Flint. "There is a possibility of reconstruction but any demolition would involve 100 percent replacement and that would come if we receive the funds to do that. It could be renovation of the units in the existing location or it could be new, quality affordable housing for those residents in a more connected part of the city."
The grant will go toward setting up community engagement and making plans for the community's future.
"This grant is for planning. It's not for demolition or construction," said Geraldine Redman, who serves as vice president for the Flint Housing Commission Board of Commissioners. "It is for planning because this is a planning grant. We don't know yet where we are heading but we know it's going to be exciting."
The Planning Commission, Flint Police Department and Flint Housing Commission are working to set up meetings with residents at Atherton East to talk about issues. Hunter also said they are going to hire an outreach coordinator.
"We need to identify what the needs are. We need to know what the data is and sit hand and hand and write specifics of the plan," Hunter said.
Residents have complained of safety issues and said they need more police presence in the community.
At Atherton East alone, in addition to two people who were killed Jan. 7, two people were shot dead in 2011 and a mother and her 12-year-old daughter were killed in 2013.
"Right now, it may look like Atherton East is not moving, but you just wait on this grant," Redmond said.
According to the Flint Housing Commission's website, it owns 1,248 public housing units, including 133 scattered homes throughout Flint. The Atherton East property has 192 units, mainly occupied by single, low-income mothers.
"It's not only these set of neighborhoods," said Flint's Mayor, Dayne Walling. "It's specifically about the partnership with the Flint Housing Commission...and the families that are residents at Atherton East. We know the tragedies that face these families."
Crime at Atherton East
• 2015: A man and woman are found dead in a townhouse who police said were killed, possibly in a home invasion.
• 2014: In August, a man was shot and killed.
• 2013: Mother and 12-year-old daughter found slain in July.
• 2011: Two people were shot dead at the complex.
• 2010: A man was shot in the head and transported to Hurley Medical Center.
• 2009: One man, 20, was shot in the chest and another was grazed by a bullet. Both men were taken to Hurley Medical Center.
Resident concerns
• Safety
• Police presence
• Security
• Drugs
• Outside traffic
-- Jiquanda Johnson is a reporter at MLive Media Group/The Flint Journal. Contact her at jjohns16@mlive.com or 810-252-5575. Follow her on Twitter. |
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Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:33 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.minbcnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=1236964
Flint searching for a consulting firm to revitalize plagued Atherton East
by Nicky Zizaza
Posted: 07.30.2015 at 12:37 AM
"We gotta go I mean it's time to go it's not safe out here no more," said resident Kanesha Miller
FLINT -- To Kanesha Miller Atherton East is more than a symbol of urban blight.
She said her neighborhood has decayed into a virtual war zone.
"It's been too many shootings around my door and my children," said Miller.
The last shooting was the last straw for the mother of two.
"I felt bad just terrible just like oh my gosh not again," she said.
When Miller heard word of a $500,000 planning grant was headed to her neighborhood could help relocate families.
City officials interviewed and grilled three consultants Wednesday, July 29, to lead the master plan in redeveloping and restoring faith in the city.
Megan Hunter Director of Planning said the city isn't equipped to handle a search.
"The plan is really detailed and it's more than just a plan it's actually a conceptual drawings it's looking at how to finance the housing so we need a consultant who has those expertise we don't have them in house," said Hunter
The vehicle city said they are hoping to correct their failure.
"They were put there because the city didn't want to incorporate them into the fabric of the community, now it's time for the city to erase that wrong."
City officials said after evaluating applicants interested in the position they plan to present their selection to the city council next month.
The three companies were given 15 minutes each to present their pitch.
The final decision will be considered by both the commissions and city staff during the final process. |
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Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:44 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flint Police are jumping again tonight. Still feeling the "Blue Moon"?
Walling and other City officials have been lying to the residents by claiming crime is down.
M-Live reporter Amanda Emery was asked how many murders so far this year. Her answer was 29, including one suspicious death, in contract to 19 murders at this time last year. The total last year was 31, so it looks like we will surpass that.
So I ask, how many $15 an hour police have been hired? And how many Flint Police have "jumped ship" and gotten jobs elsewhere? The ranks are thinning! |
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Sat Aug 01, 2015 7:47 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| As of this morning, the Flint Police show 31 murders, FPO has 32. |
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Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:51 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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What is with the changing number of murders?
Does the administration really believe the Police union doesn't watch the budget? They want to know why the 911 operations and 911 overtime, supposedly at the county, is coming out of the police budget. They must have missed this at budget time.
Police and Public Safety is taking a back seat to the back room deals to develop downtown. When the citizens continue to leave and the gangs keep growing, how will downtown fare then?
Who is minding the gangs? Last week I spoke to some housing contractors. They will not go to the east side except for some one they know . Apparently contractors are being called to vacant houses and robbed when they arrive. They also stated east side residents are afraid because some Detroit gangs have appeared for the drug trade. |
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Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:58 am |
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