The message from Detroit’s police chief was simple: “We know who you are, we know where you are, we are coming to get you.” The Detroit Free Press says Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings was talking about those responsible for an alarming recent string of killings and shootings. “We are going to do everything we can to stop the recent spike,” Bully-Cummings said yesterday.
Part of the effort is a crackdown Bully-Cummings called Project Crusaders. “We are going to aggressively target areas of the city,” she said. There were 35 homicides and 90 shootings in January. There were 26 killings and 60 shootings in January 2003. The Free Press says that, “Unease settled over many of the city’s neighborhoods. Radio programs were filled with worried listeners. Even the police who worked during the rash of shootings were unnerved, prompting one detective to remark that he’d never seen anything like the 12-hour period Feb. 1.”
“Like every other big city in America, Detroit is facing a rash of crimes,” said Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He said the operation would not require additional money. “More than half the people doing these crimes are on probation or parole,” Kilpatrick said.