Tagged: Detroit crime

Detroit Police say they’ve made an arrest in a murder case that sparked what the police chief calls an “unusual level of outrage” in the community.

3-year-old Aarie Berry died after someone shot at her house last month. Police have arrested a neighbor they say was part of an ongoing dispute in the neighborhood.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee says overall crime is down in the city. But he acknowledges that’s overshadowed by a recent spike in homicides, almost all of them shootings.

Detroit recorded 172 homicides in the first half of this year. That’s up 15% over last year.

The Detroit Police Chief admits the department left its former crime lab in deplorable condition. But Ralph Godbee also insists that no evidence that could compromise ongoing criminal cases was left behind there.

The Detroit Police Department shuttered its crime lab in 2008, after investigations revealed numerous problems with testing and handling evidence.

Detroit Police held the first of what they say will be quarterly community meetings Tuesday night.

Police Chief Ralph Godbee says the meetings are a way to share up-to-date crime data with Detroit residents.

Godbee says it’s also a way for the police and citizens to exchange information, and start tackling the city’s crime problem honestly.

Detroit and Wayne County officials say they feel like Michigan State Police have “stabbed them in the back."

That’s because State Police have backed off a plan to put a full-service crime lab in a former casino the city plans to turn into its new police headquarters.

But the state later decided that wasn’t the best use of money. They say Detroit Police need more help handling and submitting evidence.

New FBI crime figures show Detroit’s violent crime rate dropped significantly in the first half of this year.

FBI statistics show violent crimes in Detroit fell by about 8-percent from the first half of 2009.

The biggest reduction was in homicides (28%), which fell from 202 to 146. Robberies were also down about 9%.

The city did see jumps in rapes and arsons.

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee attributes the crime drop to a "data-based approach” to police deployment, and building partnerships with the community.