Detroit police, federal agencies announce third annual "Summer Surge"
(CBS DETROIT) - As temperatures rise, so do crime rates, according to Detroit police.
For the third year in a row, local and federal law enforcement are rolling out a program called the Summer Surge in preparation for summer.
"Too many incidents are happening in our city parks. Children in Detroit, like in cities elsewhere, should be able to go to their parks and feel safe and protected," said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison.
The inclusion of parks in the Summer Surge is new this year. Law enforcement agencies will focus attention on hot spots in the city. This year, two of those spots are Detroit's eighth and ninth precincts.
"Under the strategy violent felons, arrested for illegally possessing weapons, possessing fully automatic weapons, those with fully automatic weapons in addition to those with obliterated serial numbers in the eighth and ninth precinct or in Detroit parks will be subjected to federal prosecution," she said.
Ison said carjackings and robberies in those precincts will also be prosecuted federally. She says that crime rates in Detroit are down across the board.
"Citywide homicides are down more than 24%, non-fatal shootings, almost 23%, carjackings over 56% and robbery nearly 29%. And although there are still numbers on the board, let me be clear: we are not done," she said.
The Summer Surge will run from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
