Naqvi 1

Kumail Naqvi
Dr. Fowler
Honors 1000
27 November 2014
What Should We Do?
Crime is rampant in Detroit. If you were to take all the violent crimes in the previous year
and count how many would occur on average per day, you would get about 35 crimes committed.1
That is 35 individual cases of violence between the citizens of Detroit per day. Detroit was rated
number one in the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in the U.S. in Forbes Magazine. For Detroit to
become a safer place to live in, the City Council must implement different strategies to combat
this crime. One of the most likely times for crime to occur is during nighttime.2 If City Council
was to install street lights in places where there are little to none, crime would surely go down
there. Another solution would be to add emergency call boxes around dangerous areas so police
can be easily reached. Crime is a serious problem in Detroit, and two ways to deter crime is to add
emergency call boxes and street lights to where there are few to none available.
Detroit has been facing a crime problem for the last couple of decades, but before that, the
city was prosperous. During the 1910s and 1920s, the car industry was in full bloom.3 This
meant that there was a plethora of jobs available for everyone. It did not matter what race or
ethnicity you were; everybody had a fair chance of getting a job in the auto industry.

DPD Statistics

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data

Martelle

Naqvi 2

This amount of jobs available made people from all over flood into Detroit, sky-rocketing the
population to 1.6 million by 1930.4 There was also relatively little crime during this period. The
only prominent gang at the time (compared to the countless ones present today) was The Purple
Gang.5 It was a gang of predominantly Jewish bootleggers that arose from the prohibition of
alcohol. They only operated from 1927 to 1932. Neighborhoods in Detroit were safe, so naturally,
the housing values increased. Stack did some research on the correlations of housing values and
crime rate. He surveyed 57 communities in both 1980 and 1990 and found that communities with
lower housing values had a much higher rate of crime, as compared to communities with higher
housing values that have lower rates of crimes.6 He noted that communities with less or lower
quality utilities (Police department, education, etc.) had lower populations along with lower
housing values (increasing crime rate). He also said that residents with lower socioeconomic status
tended to increase the rate of crime in that area. Detroit continued to bloom throughout its years of
WWII and Motown Madness. It wasnt until the 1970s and 1980s that it became known as the
Murder City. The most vicious crimes grew out of the rise of Detroits drug culture. In the 1970s,
heroin became an epidemic. Black drug dealers who formerly were little more than retail outlets
for Detroits Mafia families began cutting out the middlemen, establishing their own gangs and
organizations.

Sugrue,

Nolan

Stack

Naqvi 3

The goal was money, but also thrills and a level of respect in a world that afforded little to young
black men. 7 Black men didnt have much to gain by that time. The auto industry had
decentralized so jobs were scarce compared to the almost-surplus of the jobs during the boom of
the auto-industry in the 1920s.8 This was because bigger firms wanted cheap labor and this was
not possible with present unions (like in Detroit). Without jobs, the residents of Detroits
socioeconomic status decreased, and according to Stack, this would lead to increased crime rates,
which it did. The population of Detroit was also cut by almost half.9 White flight was at play
here.10 With all the black people moving into Detroit, white people were starting to move out. One
of the reasons behind this was because when a black person moved into a predominantly white
neighborhood, the housing values of all the houses in that neighborhood would go down; white
people didnt like this, so they either kicked the black person out, and if they couldnt they moved
out themselves (a lot did). Another reason behind white flight was more racist; they simply didnt
want to live around black people. With the white people moving out, so did a lot of the business.
This cut from the supply of available jobs even more. With the population cut in half and lack of
jobs, crime was bound to arise.
The first site I picked really exemplifies the first solution (adding street lights). It is
Parking Lot 15 on the Wayne State campus. It is located on Cass Avenue, off of Antoinette Street.
It can hold approximately 70 to 80 cars. It has a two lane road next to it (Cass Avenue). A white
warehouse-like building is located next to it. It is thoroughly lit with plenty of street lights. My
second site exemplifies my second solution (emergency call boxes); Warren Avenue, right in front
of the Welcome Center.

Martelle pg 226, 10 pg 174

Sugrue

Rybcynski pg 226

Naqvi 4

It is a bi-directional four lane road separated with patches of grass in the middle. Along this road,
there are emergency call boxes scattered around. These two sites depict the positive effects of
adding light fixtures and emergency call boxes, respectively.
Adding streets lights has numerous benefits. Ronald Clark states many of these.
They can be broken down to benefits during nighttime and benefits during daylight hours. Benefits
during nighttime include: 1. Improved lighting deters potential offenders by increasing the risk
that they will be seen or recognized when committing crimes. 2. Police become more visible, thus
leading to a decision to desist from crime. 3. If improved lighting leads to the arrest and
imprisonment of repeat offenders they can no longer commit crimes in the area. 4. New lighting
can encourage residents to spend more time on their stoops or in their front yards in the evenings
and thus increase informal surveillance. 5. Improved lighting can encourage more people to walk
at night, which would increase informal surveillance. Benefits during daylight hours include: 1.
New lighting shows that city government and the police are determined to control crime. As a
result, potential offenders might no longer see the neighborhood as affording easy pickings. In
addition, citizens might be motivated to pass on information about offenders. 2. Better lighting can
increase community pride and cohesiveness, leading to a greater willingness to intervene in crime
and to report it. 3. If offenders commit crimes in both light and darkness, nighttime arrests and
subsequent imprisonment would reduce both daytime and nighttime crime.11 Officials in Japan
started using blue light to illuminate streets and subway stations.12 They noticed an immediate
decrease in crime and suicide. The reasoning behind their blue-light system was that blue light has
a calming effect on people, on top of the previously mentioned benefits of light. Adding street
lights will be a cost efficient, yet highly effective move in the combat against crime. But we cant
stop at just street lights.

11
12

Clark
McClatchy

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We need to add emergency call boxes also. Its true that the use of emergency call boxes has
significantly dropped with the prevalency of cell phones.13 But, what if someones phone is dead,
or they simply dont have one? What are they to do in that situation? Emergency call boxes are
still important. They present a cheap solution to a serious problem.
In conclusion, adding street lights and emergency call boxes to areas around Detroit
lacking them would benefit the city and its residents greatly. It would create a safer, more
welcoming atmosphere and would give stronger peace of mind. Crime would go down, at a
relatively low cost too when you compare it to other solutions, such as upsizing the police force.
Although these two simple additions wont stop Detroits crime completely, it will definitely put a
big dent in the Cities defining trait of crime.

13

Raymundo

Naqvi 6
Works Cited
Stack, Steven. "Crime and Housing Values in Metropolitan Detroit, 1980-1990." Journal of Crime &
Justice 20.1 (1997): 131-40. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Forbes. The 10 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities Forbes Magazine, n.d.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlj45jggj/1-detroit/ . 30 Nov. 2014.
Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Review, 2012. Print.
DPD Statistics
https://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/docs/police/Crime%20Stats/Crime%20Stats%20for%20Week%20Endin
g%2011-9-14.pdf
OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available:
http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/offenders/qa03301.asp?qaDate=2010. Released on May 22, 2014.
Clark, Ronald. Improving Street Lighting to Reduce Crime in Residential Areas
http://cops.usdoj.gov/Publications/e1208-StreetLighting.pdf

Rybczynski, Witold. City Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995.
Stack, Steven. "Crime and Housing Values in Metropolitan Detroit, 1980-1990." Journal of Crime &
Justice 20.1 (1997): 131-40. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Sugrue, Thomas J. "From Motor City to Motor Metropolis: Becoming the Motor City." From
Motor City to Motor Metropolis: Becoming the Motor City. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov.2014.

Nolan, Jenny (June 15, 1999). "How Prohibition made Detroit a bootlegger's dream town". The Detroit News.
Retrieved 17 November 2012

McClatchy "Japan Links Use of Blue Streetlights to Drop in Crime, Suicide Prevention." Chicago Tribune.
N.p., 19 Dec. 2008. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Raymundo, Shawn. "Call Boxes Still Serve Purpose | ASU News | The State Press | Arizona State University." ASU
News. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.