Federal, local officials step up anti-gun violence efforts in Detroit's high-crime areas

Detroit is cracking down on violent crimes with a plan to curb gun violence in some of the city's most crime-ridden areas during the summer months.

Federal and local law enforcement officials on Monday announced the Project Safe Neighborhoods plan, a joint strategy that focuses on the most violent offenders and devising solutions to address them.

Detroit Police Chief James White, alongside Mayor Mike Duggan and Dawn Ison, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced a collaboration to prosecute quickly and under federal law felons who illegally possess firearms,  in one of the nation's most dangerous cities for violent crime.

The targeted area spans Detroit’s 8th and 9th Precincts, which sit on the city's upper west and east side. Enforcement kicked off on Memorial Day and will continue through Labor Day. According to Ison, the sections of the city pinpointed by officials are the most violent areas in Detroit.

"Any felon arrested in those places for illegally possessing firearms will be prosecuted federally. That means any individual who uses a firearm to commit a crime of violence or drug trafficking events will be considered for federal prosecution, along with any other arrests that involve violent crime," Ison said.

Gun violation penalties under federal law are harsher compared with state law. The federal penalty for a felon possessing a firearm is up to 10 years in prison, whereas state law carries a maximum penalty of five years, officials from the U.S. Attorney and Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said.

Federal officials from the ATF and FBI will look at cases with the Detroit Police in those precincts. Instead of going through the state court, if offenders are arrested during the summer period of enforcement, they will go straight to federal court, Ison said.

Officials also expanded Project Safe Neighborhoods to Jackson, Saginaw and Pontiac, Ison said.

"Put your guns down because if you don't, the feds are coming ... and we're going to arrest you," Ison said. "If you are arrested, you're a felon and you are arrested for illegally possessing a gun, you will face up 10 years in prison."

Duggan and White visited the White House in May with mayors across the nation to discuss reduction efforts in urban gun crimes. Duggan said several mayors told the president that federal agencies need to step in to help address the issue.

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"As of today, we’ve had 320 people shot in the city. Last year on June 6, we had more than 420," Duggan said. "We had more than 100 of our residents murdered this year. When you can have an 11-year-old girl in a home with a grandmother and five other children ... dancing joyously in the house and have a bullet come through and kill you, it hits very hard. It hits me personally, it hits the chief personally."

Duggan's comments referred to the shooting death of an 11-year-old girl on the city's east side on Saturday. White said despite fewer gun crimes this year, it "means absolutely nothing" when police get a call about the murder of a child.

"This irresponsible gun ownership, irresponsible use of a weapon, it is of epidemic proportions right now in our country and in our city," White said.

Earlier this year, White said despite the decrease in homicides and nonfatal shootings, more work still needs to be done to reduce violent offenses. Detroit saw a decrease of 4% in homicides in 2021 and 9% in nonfatal shootings compared with 2020. Violent offenses in 2021, including aggravated assault, went up by 5% from the previous year.

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Ison said her office looks at homicide data in all precincts. Statistics showed that in 2021, the 8th  Precinct had 756 violent incidents while the 9th had 917, according to Ison. To date, incidents stand at 678 in the 8th and 708 in the 9th.

"That’s still too many," Ison said.

Despite focusing on the two precincts, officials said they will continue to focus on the most violent offenders and felons in possession of illegal guns.

"If they are the most violent, regardless of the precinct they're in, then we're looking at them," Ison said.

Sandra Turner-Handy, who lives in the 9th Precinct, said the community craves a higher quality of life of safety and certainty that their children will not be in danger.

"It is time we start saving our residents in the city. It is time we stop crying all the time with the chief about our babies getting shot," Turner-Handy said.

Another backer of the initiative is Alvin Stokes, president of the citywide police community relations council, an umbrella for precincts' community programs, who wants a safe place to live, play and worship.

"We're tired of shootouts in the middle of our streets. We're tired of our babies dying of senseless violence. We are tired of not being able to walk down the street, worried about who's going to shoot who or when I'm going to catch a straight bullet," Stokes said.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Federal officials partner with Detroit police to target gun crime