DETROIT (AP) - A number businesses plan to donate $8 million to help Detroit get 23 EMS units and 100 police cars to boost public safety and reduce response times.
Mayor Dave Bing announced the effort Monday along with racing team owner Roger Penske, who leads Penske Automotive Group.
“As local business leaders, we appreciate this opportunity to work with the mayor, and police and fire departments, to help improve safety in the neighborhoods, and our downtown," said Penske.
“We can work together to provide and drive positive momentum in our city.”
Other donors involved include Quicken Loans Inc., General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Mayor Bing calls this an “unprecedented collaboration” with the city’s business community.
The money will actually go Detroit’s Downtown Development Partnership, which will lease the vehicles for the city and pay for maintenance.
But mayor Dave Bing says this isn’t about downtown.
“This is about the neighborhoods," Bing said. "So we can go out into our neighborhoods to let people know that we support them, and we have not forgotten about them.”
Violent crime in Detroit spiked last year. The city recorded 387 criminal homicides. And department cutbacks have slowed response times.
Detroiters should see the new police cars on patrol by early summer, but the EMS vehicles will take a little bit longer to arrive.
The announcement came on the same day bankruptcy attorney and turnaround specialist Kevyn Orr arrived at Detroit City Hall for his first day on the job as emergency manager. Orr takes over the finances of the largest city in the country to come under state oversight.
Bing said the timing of the announcement was a coincidence.
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