13 People Shot In Detroit Within 24-Hour Period

Detroit recently hired a new police chief.

But if Chief James Craig^[1] was expecting a honeymoon period, he was sadly mistaken. Fox 2 News Detroit reports^[2] that 13 people were shot within a 24-hour period. Though, during a press conference this week, the department failed to mention it, according to Fox 2 News^[3].

In fact, when a reporter asked about the high number of shootings during a press conferece, a police department spokesperson shut it down. For some reason, asking about crime numbers seemed to be a bit of an issue.

It’s something that Detroit Police Commission Chairman Rev. Jerome Warfield says he wants to change.

“Part of community policing is to arm the community with as much information as you can give them in order [that] they may look out for you,” Warfield said. “If these type of activities are going on, then the community can coalesce and come together and then be able to help the police in their job.”

The most recent shooting involved the death of 54-year-old Almeter Walls^[4] who was murdered in front of her home Wednesday. All that is known so far is that Walls argued with someone and gun fire occurred soon after.

The 54-year-old Walls, who was going to dialysis once a week, was hours away from a kidney transplant.

Four other people were also shot, including Walls 24-year-old daughter, Fairline, her boyfriend, Arturo Franklin, and two of her nieces, one of them just 15 years old, according to Fox 2 News.

In light of the 13 shootings over the last 24 hours, the department’s unwillingness to hand over crime rate figures was something that did not go unnoticed. But Warfield is confident that Detroiters will see some big changes now that they have a new police chief.

“Transparency is an issue for (Chief Craig), making sure that he’s engaged… because he cares a great deal about community policing,” he said.

As for the unanswered questions over homicide deaths during the press conference, the Detroit Police Department did release a statement. It said, in part, there have been 115 homicides in Detroit since the beginning of the year The number of non-fatal shootings stand at 375.

Detroit has a population of 706, 585 residents,^[5] making the number of homicides and shootings relatively high.

References

1. ^{^}Chief James Craig (www.wxyz.com)
2. ^{^}Fox 2 News Detroit reports (www.myfoxdetroit.com)
3. ^{^}according to Fox 2 News (www.myfoxdetroit.com)
4. ^{^}death of 54-year-old Almeter Walls (www.myfoxdetroit.com)
5. ^{^}706, 585 residents, (quickfacts.census.gov)