GREAT REPORT – In this Michigan city ravaged by the economic crisis, the police have carried out extensive outreach work with a population of 82% African-Americans. We patrolled his agents day and night in one of America’s most dangerous neighborhoods, the East Side.
–Special Envoy to Detroit
“What a beautiful evening”, Paul recognizes. It is nine o’clock. For five hours, behind the wheel of a white Dodge “Detroit Police”, the young “cop” and his partner, Officer Steven, have been patrolling the East Side. In this district of 34 square kilometers, lit streetlights are rare and the car slips between houses often in ruins. On the sidewalk, under a porch, in a parked car, residents cast a suspicious glance at this slow-moving police vehicle, others on the contrary bless it with a smile. “For you, journalists, this calm is not interesting but the population, it appreciates”, Steven rejoices, rolling down the window to listen to the sounds of the night. Like Captain Ahab watching for the arrival of Moby Dick, the police prepare day and night to overhear the shootings that regularly tear through the area.
We reach the East Side by taking Gratiot, one of the four wide avenues that cross
