Detroit Police Work To Deal With Recent Violence
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Detroit police say they're working to deal with a recent violence that's included 36 shootings and four slayings since late last week.
Assistant Police Chief Steve Dolunt said the city saw a "brutal weekend" starting Friday, with 36 shootings and four slayings. Dolunt discussed the violence, which continued after the Memorial Day holiday, during a weekly meeting Wednesday on crime trends and strategies to address them.
"We're doing what we can. Crime is down and we're making good arrests. But there's only so much the police can do," he said. "A lot of these shootings couldn't have been prevented. A lot of them happened inside houses, and we simply can't be inside everyone's home."
Dolunt said police are trying to balance being proactive while ensuring they aren't violating people's rights.
"In a lot of these cases, the victim tells us they just heard shots and felt pain. That usually means they're up to no good," he said, adding that several cases were drug-related.
The violence comes as police say they're making progress in dealing with violent crime. As of Wednesday, Detroit shootings were down 15 percent from the same period last year, from 425 to 361, according to a report in The Detroit News. Overall violent crime is down 10 percent.
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