In a plan to bolster select Detroit neighborhoods, Mayor Dave Bing will begin luring 200 police officers back to the city by offering them renovated homes for as little as $1,000, reports the Detroit Free Press. Bing plans to use $30 million in federal stimulus money to rehab houses in two neighborhoods for officers enticed by forgivable loans, no down payments, and energy-efficient homes.
Officer LaDawn Russell, who left Detroit for Oak Park in 2007, in part for her children, is considering moving back. “Around New Year’s Eve, I don’t hear gunshots” in Oak Park, said Russell, 30. About 50 officers have inquired about the program. “I think for any neighborhood, whether it’s in Detroit or outside of the area, to know that there are professional public safety officials in the community is always a sense of comfort,” said Pamela Miller Malone, president of the Historic Boston-Edison Association.
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