McKinnon: More community involvement needed to curb crime

"If I were the genius that hopefully Ralph Godbee is right now, I would try and get as many people involved as possible," former Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon said Tuesday about what needs to happen now to fix the city's crime problem.

The saying nothing good happens after midnight is being put to the test.  After all, the last three shootings happened in daylight.

Monday on I-94, a man was said to be firing shots on the interstate at someone else.  The suspect was later found at an abandoned house.

Also while the sun was out on Hamilton Street, undercover police saw a man waving a gun running towards another person.  The suspect was shot and killed by cops.

Then on Haven Street during the daylight hours, next door neighbors argued and gunfire followed.   A 28-year-old was shot, but will be all right.

It's what's behind the crime, not the time that it happens that really matters.

"The young people who are saying, 'I lost my boy' or 'I lost my friend', and they go right back out and there's somebody else who's being shot and killed and there's no remorse.  There's absolutely no remorse in killing someone," McKinnon said.

Warmer weather and a lot of young people out of school are two contributing factors to the surge in violence, but it's not just the fights.  It's a lack of fear.  Kids, McKinnon said, aren't afraid to go to jail anymore.

"So they go to jail and all their friends are there.  They go to jail and they can get three square meals a day, and so, if they stay out on the streets, there's no home for them.  What is there here for them on the street, and they'll tell you this," said McKinnon.

Then there's the officers out on the streets and the numbers game.  When Chief McKinnon was in charge, they had more than 4,000 cops.  Now there is under 3,000.  Cuts are a new reality for cops on the force, and with gunfights with the sun out, every call is potentially dangerous.

"They respond with probably two cars instead of one because of how dangerous it might be for
 them, and if they're honest with you, they'll tell you this, yes, it's a very dangerous situation for them," McKinnon said.

Day or night, there isn't a good time for a bad fight.  Chief McKinnon said if 30,000 volunteers and reserve officers can curb fires on Angels' Night, putting out the blaze of killing should start there, too.

"We have to get more and more people to care about the City of Detroit if they are truly concerned about what's happening in the city.  Those are the things that are going to save the city.  We have to stop pointing fingers," he said.

The former chief and current chief agree on one thing for sure.  It's going to take the entire community coming together, joining the auxiliary police department or getting involved with community activist groups to stem the tide of crime.