Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said today the rash of violence in the city has been “very demoralizing,” admitted that city officials “don’t know how to stop it” and called on the community to step up and stem the tide of crime, says the Detroit News. Bing said people need to stop pointing fingers at police and others and begin to look for solutions. “I don’t think they are the problem,” Bing said of his police department in light of the Sunday police shooting of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones. “They have to be the solution.”
In response to U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mi.) calling for federal help and intervention in the city due to the violence, Bing said: “I’d rather keep it local.” The Michigan State Police are investigating the shooting. Bing also called for calm in the streets and asked for residents to wait until the investigation is complete and “make sure our emotions don’t override our good judgment.”