Safe Detroit

A new report by the American Lung Association shows Detroit has the ninth-highest level of short-term particle pollution in the US. Even though Detroit’s particle pollution level has improved slightly from last year, we’re still in the top ten worst regions.

With Detroit’s shrinking population, it leaves us to wonder how bad the air will get if the city ever starts to grow again. Detroit seems to make all of the wrong top ten lists lately. Hopefully this list won’t be another reason for people and businesses to reside elsewhere.

I don’t mean to imply that our air quality is unsafe. In fact, it has improved slightly. It would be nice if Detroit could stop topping all these lists. To be fair, the study results include the entire Detroit/Warren/Flint region.

As a side note, May is Asthma Awareness Month

Related Sites:

Region 5 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Michigan Air Quality Monitoring Program

Michigan Center for the Environment & Children’s Health (MCECH)

Do you live within walking distance from your children’s school? Is it safe for them to walk to school? The weather seems to be breaking and more and more children are beginning to walk to school rather than ride in a parent’s car. Michigan has a federally funded program that is designed to keep our children safe while walking to and from school. It’s called Michigan’s Safe Routes to School program and so far about 35 Detroit schools are on the registered list. The purpose of the program is to enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school. Each school is to form a SR2S Team that takes measures to insure a safe route for the children.

I found some interesting facts on Michigan’s SR2S website.

Research and study shows the following:

• 25% of morning traffic is parents driving their students to school.

• Walking or riding is children’s preferred method of getting to school.

• Only about 10 percent of children walk to school everyday.

• 85% of children’s trips to school are made by car or bus.

• 46% of traffic crashes involving kids as pedestrians occur when a child darts out into the street.

• 50% of children hit by cars near schools are hit by parents of other students.

• Thirty years ago over 66% of America’s children walked to school. Today, only 13% of America’s children walk or bike to school.

This is sure to upset a lot of people but I have to put these photos up. We need to stop ignoring the fact that some areas of Detroit look like a war zone. To make my harsh point, I’ve posted two photos I personally took in Detroit and two photos my Son in Law took in Baghdad, Iraq. Something is very wrong with these pictures. Click on the pictures for the full  view.

When I decided to start the ‘Safe Bet’ category for Safe Detroit, Louisiana Creole Gumbo was the first restaurant that came to mind. I’ve been to Louisiana Creole Gumbo countless times in the last eight years and I’ve never been disappointed.

Louisiana Creole Gumbo offers authentic New Orleans style dishes at very reasonable prices. I’m all but addicted to their red beans and rice. Everything from gumbo to jambalaya, Louisiana Creole Gumbo has the dish for you. If your tastes are more traditional, I recommend their meatloaf. I order the meatloaf with a double order of red beans and rice and the cornbread. Trust me, you’ll need a nap after that meal but you’ll add it to your favorites. If you’re like me and love Cajun & creole, stop in on a Wednesday and try the creole spaghetti, it’s delicious.

Louisiana Creole Gumbo is mainly carry-out as seating is limited but the food is fresh, expertly cooked and served by good people. Stop by and see for yourself, you won’t leave disappointed or go hungry.

Louisiana Creole Gumbo
2053 Gratiot Ave
Detroit, MI 48207
Phone: (313) 446-9639
MAP

We’ve all seen the pickup trucks and other vehicles around the city collecting scrap metal to sell to the scrap yards. This is a good thing, if done legally and respectfully. It helps clean up the city and eliminates tons and tons of potentially dangerous metal from our streets.

The problem is when the scrap collection turns to theft and vandalism. Metal thieves are expensive to municipalities and dangerous to their residents. This is a huge problem costing the City and it’s residents millions of dollars each year.

Metal vandals are not unique to Detroit. Metal thieves are stealing bronze from graves in South Florida to actual power lines in Canada. From Belgium to Beijing, the demand for black-market metals are creating a dangerous and expensive market for criminals in urban cities around the globe.

Scrap metal is big business but, so far, metal scavenging isn’t. At least not here in Detroit and we need to get a handle on this before it becomes big business and impossible to control. Right now we have a bunch of, for the most part, addicts and alcoholics stealing everything from manhole covers to street lights. They have been ripping copper piping from abandoned homes and businesses while they’re closed at night. These are desperate low-lives that have no respect for Detroit’s people and are a danger to those around them. Theft of copper wires puts lives at risk. Metal piping removed from buildings can cause gas leaks and the potential of explosions.

So what should we do? I wish I had the answers. First, we need to take the problem seriously. Next we need to be true Detroit citizens and report the crimes when we see them. Know someone vandalizing homes, businesses or city property? Turn them in!

Opinions vary widely when it comes to solutions. Discussions include licensing, ordinances and scrap yard crack downs. Others insist stealing is already illegal and it’s a matter of catching the thieves and enforcing the laws already on the books. Personally, I believe a scrap yard excepting any obviously stolen materials should be held responsible. Fine them, shut them down or put them in jail, whatever is necessary. Extreme I know, but a solution needs to be found soon. Really, a pickup pulls up and starts dumping manhole covers, even busted-up covers? It shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know where they were found. At that point the scrap scavenger should be turned into the police immediately.

What’s your opinion? I’d love to hear from you. Leave your comments below.

Report missing manhole covers: 313-224-0500

Volunteer to help keep Detroit’s streets safe:
Detroit Safe Streets Network, 224-4415
Citizens’ Radio Patrol of Detroit, 224-3270
24-hour hotline: 1-800-609-7487

The street corners of Detroit have long been the preferred marketing spot for the con artists and low-lives. Sound harsh? I hate to take this hardened view of our streets but until we face the truth and deal with it head on nothing will change.

Detroit’s street corners and intersections are besieged with panhandlers, prostitutes and dozens of cheesy corner signs selling everything from mattresses to dog training. Visitors and tourists get this unforgettable first impression of ‘filth’ when they exit the freeways and hit the first stop light. As they try to re-gain control of their car as it is pummeled with potholes and poor attempts of patching turned speed bumps, they are treated to the sight of our increasing population of professional panhandlers. School children walking home from school or the bus stop see this so often it’s simply a way of life.

Just An Opinion…

Here’s my opinion for whatever it’s worth. Detroit definitely has a huge homeless problem and it needs to be addressed immediately. One of the obstacles that get in the way of finding effective solutions is simple public opinion. Far too many people have the ‘Go get a job’ attitude while others believe bumming is gainful employment. Other’s try to defend the actions of the panhandlers by turning it into a racist injustice issue on desperate African Americans.

The Homeless…

You want to see the truly homeless living with desperation and frustration every single day? Look up under many of our freeway’s overpasses and you’ll see true desperation. The next time you’re jumping onto the Lodge from downtown’s I-75 look up to the right as you round the second hard curve on the ramp. Or take a ride down any of the side roads south of Jefferson just east of down town. If you really feel brave, peak into some of the abandoned warehouses (at your own risk please) on the east side off the Boulevard at Bellevue & Concord. Here you will find the mentally ill, attics and those truly in need of immediate help.

The Scams…

Want to see homeless scams perpetrated right here in Detroit? Look no further than our street corners. This is what people actually see. Most people don’t see the truly homeless, they see con artists, drunks, crack addicts, bums and punks who aren’t willing to work. Want to get the good people of Detroit involved in helping the hungry and homeless? Get the obvious frauds off our streets because that’s what’s forming public opinion. Not only local opinion but the entire world’s view on Detroit!

The Low Lives…

Most panhandlers are low lives that make a living standing on the same street corners each and every day with their hands out. They play on the pity and conscience of motorists and pedestrians to support their habits and living expenses. We’ve all heard the claims that panhandling scams bring in $300 a day up to $200 an hour. I have no idea how accurate those figures are but I do know these professional panhandlers asking for your pocket change are hurting the truly helpless.

The Stories…

Everyone in Detroit has numerous stories when it comes to encounters with beggars. Just yesterday I was in line at a Long John Silver’s restaurant on Gratiot Ave. when a beggar was inside of the lobby trying to sell a meal that someone bought him for cash. On my way into that same restaurant yesterday I was followed as I crossed the street by a different panhandler. These are just two examples from just yesterday, the same day I shot the picture you see above. We all have hundreds of encounters and the problem is a serious one.

Aggressive Panhandlers

Have you ever been accosted by an aggressive drunk panhandler? I have and it’s very unnerving to say the least. Just like pushy sales people, professional beggars have different methods of collecting your hard earned cash. Most play on your honest sympathy and others on your guilt. The scary ones know that intimidation and aggressive behavior will open wallets very quickly.

Any Solutions?

I’m certainly not an expert with all the answers. I see a huge problem being ignored and it’s very frustrating. I wish I had the answers but I simply don’t. I do think, however, that together Detroit can solve these type of problems by coming together and looking for answers. I do know we first need to see the problem and stop making up excuses. Others need to stop using these problems as tools to deepen the wedge into racial separation by turning everything into a raciest ploy by the powerful against the black population. Once we can see the real problem we should be able to conceive of and implement a real solution.

Just An Idea

A while back I noticed a hand written sign warning motorists of a panhandling scam ahead. I think it would be a great idea for the city to post permanent signs in known areas much the way they did with prostitute decoy areas. If people are pre-warned perhaps the scams will leave our city from lack of profits. Just an idea.

Sitting here in my warm office with a fireplace going nearby and the furnace set at a comfortable level it’s hard to believe it’s 4°F and well below zero with the wind chill as I write this post. Can you imagine it being that cold in your home? It may be hard to imagine living without heat but far too many do exactly that. This is America and it’s a shame so many people suffer in such a rich nation. Many Detroiters that have managed to keep their heat on but are in dier straits because of the high costs. I heard on the news this weekend that many are spending up to 40% of their disposable income for home heating.

That’s why it’s nice to see so many people care enough to come together to do their part like we witnessed this weekend. We had many fund-raising programs going this weekend.

On Friday, Compuware employees and companies in the Renaissance Center donated their energy for a Fund-raiser for the Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW) by running, walking and riding. The treadmill challenges this year raised $9,508!

Friday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9 the fifth annual WWJ Newsradio 950 Winter Survival Radiothon for THAW was held at the Boll Family YMCA in downtown Detroit. WWJ had a goal to raise $500,000 during the radiothon and at last check was very close to that goal. Pedal for Power was a special part of the 2008 WWJ Winter Survival Radiothon for The Heat And Warmth Fund of SE Michigan (THAW).

see: WWJ

THAW was formed in 1986 and has helped more than 116,000 families in Michigan with more than $59.2 million.

see: THAW

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR UTILITY BILL PLEASE CALL 1-800-866-THAW (8429) If your low-income household needs help with heat, dial 211 or call THAW at (800) 866-8429.

It’s not too late to help keep families warm this winter by making a donation. You can donate right now with your credit card by going to www.thawfund.org or call (888) 579-4950. All donations are matched dollar for dollar by THAW’s energy partners, including DTE Energy!

WWJ Newsradio 950 is holding an online auction to benefit the 2008 WWJ Winter Survival Radiothon for THAW. The auction is live through Friday, February 15th so log-on and see what’s there for you! www.THAWAuction.cmarket.com

There were other events like Smokin’ Jazz and the Reach For Heat as well as many many contributors and volunteers. I wish I had the resources to spot-light each and every one of them. Thank you Detroit!

Below are a few YouTube videos for you to enjoy:

Peddle for Power at the THAW Radiothon: Local athletes peddle for power at Detroit’s Boll Family YMCA. Through their exertions they’re keeping that light bulb lit for 31 hours straight… raising money for The Heat and Warmth Fund during WWJ Newsradio 950’s 2008 Winter Survival Radioton for THAW.

Monica Gale Volunteers at WWJ’s THAW Radiothon: WWJ Newsrdio 950’s Vicki Thomas talks with FOX 2 Detroit’s Monica Gale. Gale spent an afternoon taking donations by phone during WWJ’s 5th annual Winter Survival Radioton for THAT, the Heat and Warmth Fund.

A Chat with a THAW Volunteer: WWJ Newsradio 950 anchor, Greg Bowman, talks live on the air with a THAW volunteer. She’s been answering the phones during WWJ’s 5th Annual Winter Survival Radiothon for The Heat and Warmth Fund.

Back in early 2004, a large group of local government and private organizations came together to form Fresh Start, A Wayne County prostitution and drug rehabilitation program. Project Fresh Start is a prostitution reform initiative designed to get prostitutes off the streets, cleaned up and living better drug-free lives.

Rather than simply charging convicted prostitutes with a misdemeanor, the Fresh Start program gives the prostitute an alternative to going to jail. They can enter Fresh Start for a 15 to 24 month program that’s designed to get them off drugs and out of the prostitution business. The help includes counseling, schooling, job training and drug testing.

It’s seems simple on the surface - Arrest, Arraignment and Detoxification but the goals are clear and the job is tough: Give these girls some hope and clean up the streets. Prostitution, drugs and crime go hand in hand and it hurts everyone. Everyone in the city is far too familiar with picture like the one above.

Fresh Start is not a small project to make Wayne County look good. It’s the first program of its kind in the country and a lot of people are working very hard to make it a success. The short list of players looks like this:
:: Wayne County Sheriff’s Office
:: Detroit Health and Law departments
:: Detroit’s Bureau of Substance Abuse
:: The 36th District Drug Court and Probation
:: Other community based organizations in Detroit, Michigan.

Read More in Detroit Free Press

Welcome to SafeDetroit.com. I’m excited to get this project started again. I made an embarrassingly feeble attempt last year and it was a huge failure. I’m hoping that as a Blog, with a little more work and the help of others perhaps Safe Detroit will become an asset to the people Detroit and surrounding communities.

I’m asking for your help!

I’m asking for volunteers, community leaders and anyone that would like to help to do their part. I offer this site to the people of Detroit and I’ll use it to spread news and resources. I’d be more than happy to use this Blog to help promote any community effort or project that’s trying to better Detroit.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or contributions please contact me immediately. By contributions I mean help not money. If you have money to donate I’m sure we can help you find a worthy organization equipped to handle your funds but I am not. I can hardly handle my own Feel free to post your comments. Don’t forget to see our ‘About Page‘ where you will find more about Safe Detroit as well as contact information.

Proud to serve Detroit,
Brian Hawkins