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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:18 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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In Flint, Michigan, Overpriced Water is Causing People’s Skin to Erupt in Rashes and Hair to Fall Out.
As the nation’s infrastructure falls apart, water is becoming more expensive and less safe.
By
Curt Guyette
Flint_Water_ap_img
Lemott Thomas carries free water being distributed at the Lincoln Park United Methodist Church in Flint, Michigan. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
On a Saturday afternoon in early May, Gertrude Marshall stood on a sidewalk in front of Flint City Hall holding a hand-printed sign that declared, “We Need Affordable Water.” A 48-year-old grandmother with a kind face and determined eyes, she had come alone to protest the city’s skyrocketing water rates. In the month of April, the city had issued shutoff notices to 378 customers who could not afford to pay their bills.
In some respects, Flint’s water affordability crisis is difficult to fathom. Michigan is “The Great Lake State” after all, a place surrounded by 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, suggesting that water should be extremely affordable. But as in Detroit, its more famous sibling city to the south, water has become a high-priced commodity that too many residents can no longer afford. With average household charges nearing $150 a month, Flint’s water and sewer rates are among the highest in the United States.
Nor is price the only water problem facing the people of Flint. Since the city’s emergency manager switched the city’s drinking-water source in April 2014 from Detroit’s system to the Flint River—a move that was billed as a cost-saving windfall—residents have endured a series of water-safety scares. First came the three boil-water warnings, which the city issued after finding evidence E. coli and other nasty bacteria in the city’s water supply. These were followed by nine months of dangerously high levels of total trihalomethanes, a carcinogenic byproduct of chlorine, which put the city in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act; the city had ramped up the chlorine in an effort to kill the E. coli and other gut-busting microbes. Along the way, people have complained about rashes, hair loss, bad smells and worse, leading a group of them to file a lawsuit on June 5 to force the city to stop getting its water from the Flint River.
More recently, an internal Environmental Protection Agency memo obtained by the ACLU of Michigan raised concerns about the possibility of widespread lead contamination after the water in one family’s home was found to be contaminated with lead at a level of 13,200 parts per billion (ppb). A lead level of 5,000 ppb is classified as hazardous waste. The EPA memo asserted that the lead issue was the direct result of the cash-strapped city’s inability to handle the job of water treatment.
As in Detroit, water has become a high-priced commodity that too many Flint residents can no longer afford.
Much of Flint’s water woes—both in terms of quality and cost—can be tracked to its crumbling infrastructure: 600 miles of poorly maintained pipes plagued by hundreds of water main breaks a year. The whole system is in desperate need of repair, but the city, which is just now exiting receivership, isn’t in any shape to foot the bill—and no one else is stepping in to help.
Flint is a city with little more than half the residents it had when its population peaked in 1950. Likewise, only a fraction of the manufacturing jobs it previously had remain. Once a successful auto town—and a hub of organized labor—it counted only 8,000 General Motors jobs in 2006, down from nearly 80,000 good-paying union jobs in 1978. And jobs weren’t the only things the auto plants took when they closed; the tax revenues that flowed from them dried up as well. As a result, an ever smaller and poorer number of people have had to shoulder the costs of maintaining a decrepit water and sewer system.
For wealthier Flint residents, the relentless rise in rates has been irksome. But for the increasing number of poor people—the city’s poverty rate has swelled to more than 40 percent—the rate spikes are devastating. So is the unsafe water.
“People are forced to decide what bills are going to get paid,” said Flint resident Melissa Mays, a mother of three who’s struggling to make ends meet when the monthly water bill is over $300.
Marshall, a childcare worker and grandmother who lives in a house with one other person, said in May that her last monthly water bill was more than $200.
“A lot of people just can’t afford bills like that,” she said.
* * *
Outside the borders of Michigan, the story of Flint has gotten little attention. But the country ignores the plight of women like Mays and Marshall at its own risk, because their struggle is a growing one, spreading quickly past the frayed borders of Flint toward other troubled cities throughout the United States.
Just 70 miles to the south, Detroit’s spiking water rates have led to shutoffs so massive and unremitting that the United Nations condemned the disconnections as a violation of human rights. This past April, Baltimore also made headlines when reports surfaced that officials there were preparing to start the process of cutting service to some 25,000 homes—a threat that has so far resulted in 3,000 customers’ losing their water. And the number of Baltimoreans who can’t afford to turn on the tap is destined to grow as the city’s water and sewer rates are slated to increase a combined 42 percent over a three-year period; the money has been earmarked for infrastructure replacement that’s both costly and badly needed.
In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s water infrastructure a ‘D+’ grade.
Meanwhile, shutoffs aren’t the only tactics used in an attempt to collect delinquent water bills. In New York City, for example, where rates jumped 78 percent between 2005 and 2014, liens are placed on the homes of owners who have fallen behind on their bills. If people don’t pay up, the liens are sold to private companies, which have the authority to foreclose on the properties, the New York Daily News reported last year. Between 2008 and 2013, the newspaper reported, “The number of liens sold against owners of two- and three-family homes and mixed-use properties has risen 41%.”
As in Flint, much of the blame can be traced to our failing national water system. The country’s water infrastructure—the million miles of pipes, treatment facilities, and pumping stations that comprise municipal water systems—is old, dating in some cases back to the mid to late-19th century. The situation is similar for sewer lines. Although there have been updates and extensions along the way, with some of the most recent major projects occurring in the 1950s through 1970s, the materials used in each successive wave have tended to be of poorer quality, meaning they tend to erode faster, according to a report by the Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute. The result has been a decline so pernicious that, in 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s water infrastructure a ‘D+’ grade, warning that “much of our drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life.”
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This does not bode well for American’s future ability to cook, shower, wash dishes, flush toilets, or simply drink water when the urge strikes. “We must get this right. Currently we are getting it very wrong,” warned Michael Shank, a journalist and director of media strategy for the nonprofit group Climate Nexus, during a February briefing in Washington, DC, on the looming water infrastructure crisis. “This should alarm every member of Congress and finally put water in its rightful high-priority place.”
Much of the problem can be attributed to a change in policy on the part of the federal government, which reduced funding for water and wastewater systems by 80 percent between 1977 and 2014. As a result of those cuts, consumers have been forced to bear most of the burden of paying for the repair and replacement of aging water infrastructure, causing rates to soar. One particularly stunning survey of 100 municipalities by USA Today in 2012 found that water prices had doubled in more than a quarter of the cities since 2000, and even tripled in several others.
And they’re going to continue to climb.
“Our estimates are that this is a trillion-dollar program,” David LaFrance, CEO of the American Water Works Association, told National Public Radio last year. “About half of that trillion dollars will be to replace existing infrastructure. The other half will be putting into the ground new infrastructure to serve population growth and areas that currently aren’t receiving water.”
With the federal government filling in only a fraction of the gaps, municipal systems’ solution of choice has been to dump rising infrastructure costs on customers by raising prices. But cities have also been exploring other options, including privatizing their water systems (which James Kelly explores in his article about New Jersey’s recent water privatization push) and switching over to cheaper water sources, as Flint has done. Rarely, however, have the changes offered much benefit; frequently, they have made the situation worse.
Once upon a time, this country dreamed of ambitious interventions to help its residents live safe, secure lives.
This shouldn’t have to be Americans’ fate. Once upon a time, this country dreamed of big and ambitious interventions to help its residents live safe, secure, and comfortable lives—a notion that stakeholders like the US Conference of Mayors have echoed, however faintly, in asking Congress to provide direct financial relief to municipal water systems. As of now, the federal government merely makes money available to revolving loan funds that must be repaid—with money coming out of the pockets of consumers.
But getting Congress to come up with the cash is a decidedly tough task in an era when lawmakers eschew any form of tax hike, focusing instead on attempts to rein in the federal budget by hacking away at established programs. So, as we wait and dream for more visionary days, we can and should begin pushing for another solution that makes both economic and humanitarian sense: government can step in and begin helping customers with their exorbitant bills, the same way it provides a safety net for other fundamental needs, such as food, housing, and heating bills. Making that argument all the more compelling is the fact that in parts of the country water rates “are rising faster than any other utility rate, including heating bills,” the National Consumer Law Center reported last year.
Why should water be treated differently?
The idea, which is beginning to make the rounds in cities like Detroit, is for income-based affordability plans based on a customer’s ability to pay. That means, essentially, that poor people are provided a discount based on their income levels. Although it might seem counterintuitive, such an approach actually results in water utilities collecting more money than if the rates were higher.
When bills are out of reach, people tend to toss them aside rather than make partial payments. If, on the other hand, they take a reasonable portion of a person’s income—the US EPA suggests no more than 4.5 percent for water and sewer—then people are not just able but also willing to cough up the cash needed to keep the water flowing.
In June, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to set rates for impoverished customers based on their incomes. And the City of Brotherly Love will be better off financially for it.
“This legislation will improve collections, because experience shows that customers are more likely to pay their utility bills when they are affordable,” Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez said. “At the same time, this program will prevent families who are doing their best and following the rules from being crushed under old and uncollectable debt.” •
Curt Guyette Curt Guyette is an investigative reporter for the ACLU of Michigan, which has been heavily involved in trying to fight water shut-offs in Detroit. |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:22 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I know signs don't vote , however the proliferation of campaign signs in some pats of the city indicate where some campaigns have been concentrating their efforts. Ballenger Highway, the new Northern School area, and parts of the west and south side are filled with Davis and Weaver signs. I only saw one walling sign. These are areas where residents are fed up with high water bills and crime.
I hear Walling keeps campaigning in the College Cultural area He needs to branch out unless he is afraid to. |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:29 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://s.mlive.com/qrdUKva
Two men shot by Michigan State Police in Flint following chase
Four Michigan State Police Troopers shot the men following a car chase. The men allegedly tried running over the troopers. The men's injuries were not life threatening, police said
Dominic Adams | dadams5@mlive.com By Dominic Adams | dadams5@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on July 16, 2015 at 6:35 AM, updated July 16, 2015 at 9:03 AM
FLINT, MI – Two men were shot by Michigan State Police troopers following an early-morning chase on Thursday, July 16.
Troopers attempted to stop a 2004 Buick Rendezvous on a traffic stop about 2:25 a.m. in Flint, according to Lt. David Kaiser, state police spokesman for the Flint post.
A 36-year-old Flint man was shot in the wrist and had lacerations to the face, while an 18-year-old Flint man was shot in the thigh and abdomen, police said, adding the injuries are non-life threatening.
After troopers tried pulling the vehicle over, it fled and the men led police on a chase that lasted approximately five minutes. Another state police vehicle and a Flint police cruiser also joined the chase, Kaiser said.
The fleeing vehicle hit one of the state troopers' vehicle during the chase.
Troopers then used a "precision immobilization tactic" to stop the Rendezvous at Raspberry and Greenbrook lanes near Atherton Road and the General Motors' Flint Assembly Plant.
After the fleeing vehicle was stopped, it went in reverse and tried to hit the four troopers, who then began shooting at the vehicle.
"We will continue to patrol the city of Flint and provide a safe neighborhood," Kaiser said. "We are not going away. We are not going to stop stopping vehicles.
The troopers have been placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated and reviewed by the Genesee County Prosecutor, Kaiser said.
"We have lost more troopers to being struck by vehicles than we have to gunfire, historically," Kaiser said. "That vehicle is like firing a 3,000 pound bullet."
Ruth Fisher lives 30 yards away from where the shooting took place.
She said she heard the police cars and woke up.
"You don't hear them out here," she said. "I heard pop, pop, pop and said 'oh my God someone's shooting.'"
Fisher has lived in the 1600 block of Greenbrook Lane for about three months.
"It was a shock for sure," she said. "It's basically ridiculous."
Michigan State Police investigate the scene of a shootout after an early-morning chase that ended at the intersection of Raspberry Ln. and Greenbrook Ln. in Flint, Mich. on Thursday July 16, 2015. Two men were shot, and suffered from non life-threatening injuries, after leading MSP on a chase after fleeing a traffic stop and attempting to run over several officers after being brought to a stop by "precision immobilization tactic."(Christian Randolph/Flint Journal)
Christian Randolph | crandolp@mlive.com
Dominic Adams is a reporter for The Flint Journal. Contact him at dadams5@mlive.com or 810-241-8803. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:37 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"We will continue to patrol the city of Flint and provide a safe neighborhood," Kaiser said. "We are not going away. We are not going to stop stopping vehicles.
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The story claims one Flint vehicle joined the chase, but that is the only mention of the Flint Police. While the study of the Flint Police Department recommended the force be increased significantly, the reports to the state reflect a decline in numbers. With the threat of more cuts if the Police millages are not renewed, one has to wonder if the Flint Police force will be disbanded like that of the City of Pontiac.
The department I disbanding all of he special units and even recommended pulling out of Fang. Comments on social media reflect a growing anger at an inability to curb the growing violence, home invasions, and drug houses.
Meanwhile the city addresses local groups and promises results, little is accomplished. |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:49 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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"We will continue to patrol the city of Flint and provide a safe neighborhood," Kaiser said. "We are not going away. We are not going to stop stopping vehicles.
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According to reports made to the state, The State police can monitor Flint 911 calls, but Flint has no access to State radio communications.
The State Police an pick and choose if they want to intervene in a City call. They do not have to respond to 911 calls. Flint police are being required to respond to calls that could be dealt with administratively. When all of these shootings, stabbings and shots fired calls dominate, the routine calls can fall behind by 40 or more.
When the State Police pull someone over that has a warrant, they can write the ticket and call in to have a Flint car take in the individual with the warrant and deal with the necessary paperwork.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:58 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The State Police are increased every time the crime stats rise. They are employing the same community policing techniques Flint residents paid for and only partially received. They claim they are making a difference, but the residents are not seeing it. Many people are saying the state can keep their troopers and give us the money for more police. The low pay will prevent more police hiring and the cuts are persuading more officers to "jump ship" and seek employment elsewhere.
Our house had an attempted B&E 2 nights ago. There was a rash of home invasions in the area in a 3 day period. Before that they were in Mott park and Glenwood Hills. I have noticed youth on bikes that are not from the area.
The last 48 to 72 hours has included a rash of shootings and stabbings. |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Shots fired 1100 Block of Mead
11 to 13 shots fired in the 3400 block of Stonegate
3shot in Ridge Crest Village off Carpenter.
2000 block of Prospect a woman was robbed by 2 2 b/m wearing grey hoodies
1 shot at Stewart & Proctor. The victim was walking and a passerby transported them to Hurley.
A neighborhood Watch meeting reported drug activity at 3 locations in the eastside. The 2002 block of Maryland and the 2000 block of Oklahoma were 2 reported. An attendee reported being told that drugs and home invasions were not priorities as the were not life and death crimes. The police are too busy pulling people over and the backlog of calls is too great for the limited Flint officers on patrol.
Chief Tolbert was said to have spoken at the public safety meeting and stated that most Flint shootings were committed by people who knew each other. There were 8 homicides that were interrelated.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:34 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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2000 block of Stevenson, shot were fired into a vehicle and the victim refused to talk to the police.
2900 block of Barth had shots fired into an occupied home
N Franklin and Missouri had many shots fired
B&E 1100 block of Milbourne
Shots fired occupied home in the 3900 block of Tuxedo
Home invasions in 3800 block Marmion, 1200 block of Welch and a possible attempt in the 1600 block of Seminole. B&E at 1200 block Chippewa and attempt at 1800 block of Nebraska
2 white males are allegedly selling drugs out of a white and black Camaro in multiple locations
1 person stabbed in the 3000 block of Arizona
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:46 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Some in the social media are expressing anger that the City and Police administrations are refusing to acknowledge the gang problems. There is anger at the manner in which our limited officers are spread so thin they may be unable to respond quickly enough when the residents are in trouble. More than one comment indicates the residents believe they must "serve and protect" themselves.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Jul 17, 2015 7:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://michiganradio.org/post/leaked-internal-memo-shows-federal-regulator-s-concerns-about-lead-flint-s-water#stream/0
Leaked internal memo shows federal regulator’s concerns about lead in Flint’s water
By Lindsey Smith • Jul 13, 2015
An internal memo from the Environmental Protection Agency is raising concerns about lead in Flint’s water.
It documented extremely high levels at one woman’s home, high enough that her son got lead poisoning. The memo was leaked before federal regulators had a chance to “verify and assess the extent” of the problem, according to an EPA spokesperson.
Representatives with the EPA declined an interview request Friday, but issued a written statement.
EPA continues to work closely with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the City of Flint to ensure that Flint residents are provided with safe drinking water. EPA conducted limited drinking water sampling for lead in Flint in response to a citizen complaint. The initial results and staff recommendations to management were documented in an internal memorandum, which was cited in the ACLU article. EPA will work with Michigan DEQ and the City of Flint to verify and assess the extent of lead contamination issues and to ensure that Flint’s drinking water meets federal standards.
Flint residents who are concerned about lead in their drinking should contact the utility and may request that their water be sampled. Additional information about lead in drinking water is available at http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/lead.cfm.
Flint city officials declined to comment on the memo because they had not received a copy at the time.
“Let me start here – anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax,” said Brad Wurfel, spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality.
He says preliminary tests of at least 170 homes in the past year show the woman’s home was an outlier. Wurfel says those reports should be finalized in a few weeks.
“It does not look like there is any broad problem with the water supply freeing up lead as it goes to homes,” Wurfel said.
Wurfel says anyone with a home that’s more than 30 years old should contact their city and get their water tested, no matter where they live.
Old homes sometimes have lead service connections with city water systems. Lead can get into drinking water that way, or through some old copper connections, which may have lead solder, Wurfel said.
The memo details an EPA staffer’s concern about how the city tests for lead and results from a lab at Virginia Tech that show elevated levels of lead at one resident’s home. That test shows levels that are high enough to be considered hazardous waste.
The memo was leaked by the American Civil Liberties Union, who spoke to the author.
The memo also cites concerns over whether tests at other Flint homes with elevated lead levels are being included in the broader water tests that Wurfel referenced. |
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Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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This memo flies in the face of the ridiculous charade of Channel 5's Ask The Mayor where the reporter filled a glass with water and the Mayor drank it. it show the extent some media will go to in order to influence public opinion.
In the meantime, who is going to test children for lead poisoning? Who is going to pay for treatment?
Who is going to pay for the damage done to some homeowners boiler systems because of the corrosive nature of the water?
Will Weaver have a decided advantage in the areas where water and the high cost of water is a concern? Will crime issues give Davis an advantage? |
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Fri Jul 17, 2015 6:54 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Man shot, killed on Flint's north side
Flint police investigate a homicide on the 500 block of East Dewey Street Friday night, July 17, 2015, in Flint , Michigan . Danny Miller | MLive.com
Danny Miller | dmille17@mlive.com
Amanda Emery | aemery@mlive.com By Amanda Emery | aemery@mlive.com
Follow on Twitter
on July 18, 2015 at 12:00 AM, updated July 18, 2015 at 12:04 AM
FLINT, MI -- A man was shot and killed Friday night on Flint's north side.
Flint police responded to the 500 block of East Dewey Street in reference to a shooting around 10:30 p.m. Friday, July 17. Police at the scene said when they arrived they found one man had been shot.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
Police said there was no suspect information available at this time.
Corwanna Mays lives near where the shooting happened.
"I'm just thankful me and my children weren't home when it happened." She said.
The last homicide in Flint was the shooting death of 37-year-old Tawaya Mason on June 14. Mason was shot around 1 a.m. June 14 in the 2500 block of Fox Lane at Evergreen Regency Townhomes in Flint. She was taken to Hurley Medical Center where she later died from her injuries.
No further information was released on Friday's shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to call Flint police at 810-237-6800, or to submit an anonymous tip call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP, or text CSM and your tip to CRIMES (274637) or online at www.1800speakup.org.
Amanda Emery is a police reporter for MLive-Flint Journal. Contact her at aemery@mlive.com or 810-285-0792. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook. |
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Sat Jul 18, 2015 6:57 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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About an hour after the shooting on Dewey calls flooded 911 referencing shots fired multiple times in the south side neighborhoods around Camden and Lincoln and Lincoln and Brunswick.
Sadly, callers expressed an awareness their calls would not et a response because police were "stretched thin" and responding to a shooting. There were discussions of how the police got paid "dirt" and had way more calls then they could handle because of the low numbers of officers actually handling the calls. |
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Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:06 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/02/crime_hot_spots_identified_alo.html
$1M University Avenue Grant
Students help ease backlog of Flint police records for University Avenue $1M grant
University Avenue group driving force behind $1M crime-fighting grant
Crime hot spots on University Avenue corridor targeted by $1M federal grant
New $1M crime-fighting grant for Kettering aims to revitalize Flint corridor
FLINT, MI -- The University Avenue corridor that stretches between two major Flint universities and two major Flint hospitals has become ground zero for research to prevent crime and revitalize Flint.
Researchers have now begun the first phase of the project using the $1-million federal grant -- from the U.S. Department of Justice's Byrne Criminal Justice Program -- that was announced in October for the University Avenue corridor.
They are identifying crime hot spots, collecting crime data, environmental data, working with police and encouraging the community to get involved.
More than 300 crimes were committed in the University Avenue corridor in 2014, Flint Police Chief James Tolbert said in October.
The official name of the project is "Renew the Avenue: A public safety project along the University corridor." The ultimate goal is to research the area, collect data and see what the major issues are and see if that matches up with the community's thoughts.
•RELATED: University Avenue group driving force behind $1M crime-fighting grant
The plan is to come up with recommendations to reduce crime and eliminate blight, and the process should be able to be replicated in other parts of the city and anywhere else.
"It's really looking at what's driving this crime and looking at the strategies that are proven to work in other areas of the country. That's the idea," said Lynda Berge, interim project manager for the grant. "We all know that arresting people and putting them in jail only gets us more people in jail. It doesn't really help the neighborhood."
The project is a collaborative effort among four universities -- Kettering University, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan-Flint and Michigan State University -- and various law enforcement agencies, including the Flint Police Department, Michigan State Police and the UM-Flint Department of Public Safety.
On Monday, March 2, Tom Wyatt, neighbor outreach coordinator for Genesee County Habitat for Humanity, will take over as project manager. He knows the city and the community and can easily jump into the position, Berge said.
"That is a large team, but that's the idea. We structured it that way purposefully," Berge said. "We want to raise additional money. The Byrne grant is really the starting point.
"Everyone in Flint is impacted by this."
Between the four universities, there are at least a dozen researchers on board for this project, said Jack Stock, director of external relations for Kettering and a member of the University Avenue Corridor Coalition. Groups of students, community members, police and residents are also a part the project.
Since the grant was announced in October, a steering committee was formed that includes Tolbert, Mayor Dayne Walling and a representative from each of the following: Hurley, UM-Flint, Kettering, the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center of UM, Carriage Town Ministries and residents from the Mott Park neighborhood.
FL_0226_Crime-Study-University-Corridor_ALT.jpg
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MLive
Researchers have identified five crime hot spots: the corner of University Avenue and Grand Traverse Street; the area around Hurley Medical Center; the residential area north of Kettering University; the area around Flushing Road and Ballenger Highway; and the area around Court Street and Ballenger Highway.
The research phase, which is set to go through April, will focus on assaults, burglary and robbery in those areas. Researchers will look at environmental issues such as lighting, vacant land and vacant property, among other factors.
Walling said the beginning of the results of this project are becoming visible to the wider community.
"Yes, one of the purposes of the innovation grants is to develop new practices and models that can be deployed in other areas, but we have to see how much we can get out of this first million-dollar investment and what can be replicated with or without additional grant funding," he said. |
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Sat Jul 18, 2015 7:09 am |
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