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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:58 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Dave-You beat me to the punch on this one. I read this article in the parking lot of the 7-11.
Last Updated: July 06. 2011 1:00AM.
Rampant crime gives Flint aura of wild West
Financial woes force police cutbacks even as murders and arsons soar
Francis X. Donnelly/ The Detroit News
Flint— Nine abandoned homes were torched Monday and Tuesday, and a dozen burned in a four-hour period last month. The week before, a civil rights pioneer was killed in his upper-income neighborhood.
Two weeks earlier, one of the police mini-stations erected as a solution to rising crime was burglarized.
Once upon a time, these things shocked residents.
That was before Flint led the nation last year in burglaries, arsons, aggravated assaults and murders, according to FBI statistics.
It was before violent crime surged even higher this year.
And it was before the destitute city — once the third largest in Michigan — cut the number of police by two-thirds in three years.
Vehicle City, the nickname given Flint as the birthplace of General Motors, has become the state's version of Dodge City.
"This is the worst it's ever been," said Patty Pruett, 43, who has lived in Flint for most of her life. "It's a battlefield."
The grim statistics tell only part of the story.
Because police are shorthanded, it takes patrols hours to respond to calls and, when they do, they fail to solve many cases, officers said.
Even when police find suspects, they have no place to put them. The city jail has been shut for three years because of budget cuts, and the county jail is full.
Misdemeanor offenders who once were taken to jail now are given court summons that they routinely ignore, police said.
The criminals freely roam the streets while residents huddle in their homes like they're in prison, officers and citizens said.
"There's no place you want to walk after dark," said Cathy Klutts, 52, whose mom was killed last year. "What can you do?"
Her mom, Merlyne Wray, 73, was shot by a 14-year-old boy who had asked to use the phone in her Flint home, police said.
The situation has grown so dire that several politicians want to declare martial law and bring in the National Guard.
An editorial in the Flint Journal last year asked someone, anyone, to help the city.
Call the governor, beseeched the newspaper. Call other mayors and sheriffs. Call the president. Call Rudy Giuliani.
"It's a tide of death and destruction that keeps this city awash in blood and fear," the newspaper wrote.
From rich to poor
Before GM began leaving in 1978, Flint was a bastion of plentiful jobs that paid well. The bounty provided abundant city services and cultural institutions.
Within a decade, Flint became one of the poorest cities in the state with one of the highest jobless rates. Today, 1 in 5 residents is unemployed while one of three lives in poverty, according to state and census figures.
"GM went off and left us," said the Rev. Ray Dunlap, pastor of Eliezer Church of the Apostolic Faith. "After the jobs left Flint, crime went up."
On a heart-shaped lot behind the church, Dunlap, 82, created a memorial garden that contains 11 wooden crosses. Each lists the name of someone who was murdered. One was a minister.
The economic collapse led to the crime surge because the city had to cut police, residents said.
The city of 102,000 — now the seventh largest city in Michigan — has 124 police officers, according to Flint police unions.
That's 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents, easily the lowest rate in the state. The second lowest is Detroit at 3.9.
"I know the city is broke, but something needs to be done," said Tina Moreland, 52, whose daughter was killed last year. "It's too much to handle."
Moreland is raising her 6-year-old granddaughter because Sheena Smith, 22, of Flint was shot by a man who fired into a crowd during an argument she wasn't involved in.
Embattled Mayor Dayne Walling has likely come to rue a remark he made shortly after taking office in 2009.
He pledged to cut crime 10 percent the next year. Instead, Flint became the murder capital of the U.S.
During contract negotiations, the police refused to make concessions. Walling said the financially strapped city had no choice but to continue layoffs.
Walling, 37, who has publicly feuded with police and survived recall attempts, is facing a tough re-election campaign. Six people are opposing him in the August primary.
"It's ridiculous," said Marilyn Cain, 66, who began propping a table against her front door at night after her neighborhood had six murders in a year.
"The mayor needs to do something."
Walling declined comment for this article. Police Chief Alvern Lock didn't respond to phone calls or emails.
After the FBI released the crime statistics in May, state and county officials began talking to Flint about how they could help.
Last week, Michigan State Police doubled the number of troopers in the city from 10 to 20.
Also, the Genesee County Jail in Flint moved 85 of its 580 inmates to other lockups last month, allowing room for more people to be arrested in the city.
Despite all the crime, the long-moribund downtown has begun to shake awake in the past decade. It has attracted residents, several large companies and even reopened a hotel, The Durant, that had been closed for 32 years.
Feeling of lawlessness
With all of the other troubles faced by Flint, manhole covers have been disappearing.
Some 80 covers have been stolen in the past few months, probably for scrap, police said.
For residents, the lowly metal objects are an example of how nothing is safe from thieves. A feeling of lawlessness has seeped into the city's psyche, they said.
Doris Keels, 57, a community activist who works as a volunteer dispatcher at a police mini-station, worries about her grandchildren.
"They don't have a chance to be kids," she said. "You can't let them walk to the store alone because they might disappear."
In south Flint last week, Walt Samson, fixing his bicycle in the garage, stood to count the number of homes burglarized on his block. He stopped at six.
A woman down the street was killed when her son beat her with a frying pan. Two blocks away, Cathy Klutts' mother was killed.
As Samson spoke, a neighbor, his foot poking out the window of his car, drove through a stop sign without halting.
Samson, 56, who can't read or write, is protecting himself.
He extended his 4-foot fence by 2 feet; bought two Magnums, calibers .22 and .44; and owns four pit bulls. Sign on the doghouse: "Life is good."
"It's the police," he said. "They're not there. They're just not there."
In north Flint, a dozen young and middle-age men lingered outside Brothers' Food Center in the middle of the workday, oblivious to a "no loitering" sign.
One of the men, looking over his shoulder, handed money to a second man before receiving a packet he quickly pocketed.
A toddler on a tricycle, looking for his father, wheeled up to the group along the busy four-lane street.
A store clerk complained about the men, saying they panhandle, shoplift and get into fights. He said he calls the police every day but they hardly come.
The clerk's boss didn't want to talk about the problem.
"I don't want the store associated with this sort of thing," said owner Ramzi Farah.
fdonnelly@detnews.com
(313) 223-4186
Staff Writer Mike Wilkinson contributed. |
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Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:06 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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With audio: Mayor Dayne Walling responds to Detroit newspaper comparing Flint to 'wild West'
Published: Wednesday, July 06, 2011, 2:26 PM Updated: Wednesday, July 06, 2011, 3:10 PM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
AP PhotoIn this photo taken May 12, 2010, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling is shown in Flint, Mich.
FLINT, Michigan — The city of Flint is comparable to the wild, wild West, according to a story in The Detroit News today.
With Flint leading the nation last year in murders, arsons and other violent crimes, according to FBI statistics, some residents are living in fear, according to the article, which also quotes a Flint Journal editorial that calls for a crime intervention.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling appeared on Detroit radio station WJR-AM 760 to defend recent efforts to combat crime. He called the comparison to the wild West a "crazy, unfounded, cheap shot."
As for the FBI crime stats, Walling said "none of that came as news to our community."
Listen: Mayor Dayne Walling
"We struggle with the challenges day in and day out but we also have a lot of hardworking people who are joining block clubs and crime watches," he said, adding that the Michigan State Police have increased patrols and the county jail has cleared more space. "Maybe the media go to the story after we’re already working on some serious solutions."
Listen to the audio clip, courtesy of WJR, for Walling's full interview.
Related topics: WJR |
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Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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View: Oldest first | Newest first
Whiteone July 06, 2011 at 2:32PM
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If Flint is the Wild Wild West Detroit is Beirut...
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jacobsmith July 06, 2011 at 2:34PM
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Flint IS comparable to the Wild West, except there is no honor and the criminals make those of the old west look like heroes by comparison. Perhaps Dayne Walling needs to phone a friend since he has no clue what is actually happening in Flint. I wish even one of the contenders for the office was not FAR WORSE than Walling, because it is clear that Walling is not intelligent enough to handle the job. The only thing crazy and unfounded is that he thinks he is doing the job.
I feel bad for whichever corporation picks him up next, because they will be getting a proven loser.
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babe72 July 06, 2011 at 3:08PM
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Sorry, it is not Walling , it is all the idiots he has around him.
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jacobsmith July 06, 2011 at 3:12PM
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I hear this all the time from Walling sycophants, but the truth is that he can remove Eason at any time, he can start ignoring the Poplars, etc. Blaming it on his peons is silly.
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thinkmore79 July 06, 2011 at 3:12PM
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So Walling's idea is essentially, "Since everyone in Flint knows it's horrible here, that somehow negates that it IS horrible here. Because we're all just used to it." Wonderful.
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Harold Taco July 06, 2011 at 3:15PM
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Oh sure, Mayor Jackass, it's a real cheap shot.
Flint is actually much worse than the Wild West.
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Keith_E Phillips Jr._581 July 06, 2011 at 3:18PM
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its not like the wild west, there they hang you for murder!
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bphammer July 06, 2011 at 3:19PM
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Welcome to DeadWood East
you can rent or lease and the smell of smoke's in the air
once known as Buick Town befor it went down
Now it looks much more like Zaire. |
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Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:26 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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A friend of mine in the college cultural area was approached by Walling volunteers who wanted to know why they would not support Walling. When told that it was because Walling promised to hire the "brightest and the best" and then turned around and hired Eason and Poplar, the Walling volunteer said that they (Eason and Poplar) mgiht not be in place after the election even if walling won. My friend stated "too little too late"
babe72 July 06, 2011 at 3:08PM
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Sorry, it is not Walling , it is all the idiots he has around him.
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jacobsmith July 06, 2011 at 3:12PM
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I hear this all the time from Walling sycophants, but the truth is that he can remove Eason at any time, he can start ignoring the Poplars, etc. Blaming it on his peons is silly. |
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Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:31 pm |
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