Is cracking down on block parties the answer to summer gun violence? | Letters
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A mass shooting at a Sunday block party in Detroit was the state's worst since at least 2013.
About 2:30 a.m. Sunday, 21 people where shot at a party near Rossini Drive and Reno Street. Two of the victims died. It took until 11:35 a.m. for the general public to learn, via a social media post by the Michigan State Police, about the shooting, and that the shooters were still on the loose. No one has been charged in the case.
On Monday, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit Police Chief James White announced a four-step plan to address recent violence at that party and other events.
Since May, police have received over 500 calls stemming from block parties, city leaders said, and during the long Fourth of July weekend, police responded to six separate shootings at block parties. There were a total of 27 victims, including three who died.
More from opinion: Detroit block party scrutiny should have come months ago, after teen was killed
Do you have ideas on how to address the issue of violence at large parties? What do you think about the city's approach — is cracking down on block parties the answer? Should police, or communities, consider strategies or techniques consider to avoid or de-escalate disputes in dense crowds?
Send us a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters with "block party" in the subject line, and we may publish your story online and in print. We're not interested in political rhetoric or finger-pointing — just thoughtful, genuine ideas for solutions. We ask for letter writers' email addresses, home addresses and daytime phone numbers for verification purposes; that information won't be published.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After Detroit block party shooting, we want to hear from you
