State - Detroit City's police blitz criminals to win back streets Evans: Police 'have to take the battle to the criminals'

By Corey Williams Associated Press Writer DETROIT (AP) -- On any given day or night, dozens of Detroit's toughest, most street-savvy officers descend on high-crime areas to round up as many illegal guns, drugs and bad guys as possible in one swoop with tactics as simple as minor traffic stops. It's not a roving band of police blitzing random neighborhoods, but a carefully planned and scripted effort designed to reduce crime in one of the country's most dangerous cities. And it appears to be helping. Working with local, state and federal agencies, officers saturate part of the city where data shows spikes in violent crime. Teams cast a wide net: Asking drivers for valid licenses or targeting low-level drug dealers has lead to larger drug busts, weapons seizures and even violent fugitives. "You get the cars away from them. You use the small stuff: no headlights, cracked windshields," said Officer Brandon Cole, who is assigned to the tactical mobile unit. "If they have no driver's license, you can get into the car and get guns and dope. It's so simple." Since Project CRUSADERS launched last summer, crime rates have dropped and several hundred arrests -- including 200 in the first two days of traffic stops, drug raids and warrant investigations -- have been made. It allowed the cash-strapped city to make a hard dent in crime with an undermanned police force. But one fugitive slipped through. Jason Gibson, wanted for violating probation in a concealed weapons case, is accused of fatally shooting a Detroit officer and wounding four others last week. Police Chief Warren Evans said the death of Officer Brian Huff, who was on a routine call and not working with the program, justifies his belief that police have to "take the battle to the criminals" by hitting areas where crime appears to be taking over. Gibson is the type of person Project CRUSADERS aims to find, Evans said. The 25-year-old was arrested following the May 3 gun battle that killed Huff as officers were investigating reports of gunfire in an abandoned duplex on the city's east side. Police found a handgun and a pound of marijuana in the house. Gibson, who was shot in the back and hospitalized, was being held for a probation violation while charges were being sought in the shootings. "His whole history is running from the police, fighting with the police, trying to disarm the police," Evans said. "That's his career. That's what he wants to be when he grows up." He isn't alone, said Michigan State University sociology professor and noted gang expert Carl Taylor. Manpower is an issue for police because of the large number of violent young men running afoul of the law and guns on the streets, he said. "They are predatory. They are angry," Taylor added. "They are not scared of the cops, nor do they respect them. These are street insurgents. It's a domestic type of terrorism. Things have changed in the street and it's not just in Detroit." Evans knew what he was up against when he kicked off Project CRUSADERS last summer. There were 379 homicides in 2009, and 375 the year before. But crime rates appear to be slowing, and Evans credits Project CRUSADERS and spinoff efforts. In the first three months of this year, 60 homicides were committed, compared to 80 over the same period in 2009. Nonfatal shootings are down 10 percent, auto thefts by 20 percent and burglaries by 15 percent. More than 1,000 guns have been taken off the streets, Evans said. Heroin seizures are up 128 percent over the past six months, while cocaine seizures are up 40 percent. About 1,130 pounds of marijuana with a street value of more than $5 million was taken in two separate raids in January. Drug dealers move from place to place, often using abandoned homes and buildings. But it hasn't deterred the officers. "Even with relocating, it gives the neighborhood or the block that had the problem before, the relief," Evans said. "We just have to continually keep chasing them and running them out." Other cities have found success with similar efforts. In Philadelphia, "Operation Pressure Point" netted 1,775 arrests and nearly $5 million in drugs between April and November 2009. Weekend homicide rates were cut in half and shootings fell 11 percent in the targeted areas, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said last winter. In Jackson, Miss., 200 arrests and more than 570 tickets came during two days in April when the city put 200 officers on the street by teaming with the FBI, U.S. Marshals and other agencies, said police spokesman Officer Joseph Daughtry. Checkpoints were set up to look for people without valid driver's licenses or those named in warrants. "The criminal element was like 'Wow! What is going on?'" Daughtry said. "Every time they turned the corner, they saw a police officer." There are some legal concerns with such crime blitzes "if police are not using probable cause and if they are pushing the boundaries of the law," said Kary Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan. "We've seen this with the Detroit Police Department in other circumstances," Moss said. "I'm not sure if it's happening here." Detroit resident Shelia Brown has no problem with the those tactics. The 47-year-old lives down the street from the house where Huff was killed. "You might pull over a bad guy, you might not, but it's a chance you have to take," she said. Published: Tue, May 11, 2010

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