DETROIT (WXYZ) — The 8th and 9th precincts are two of the most violent precincts in the city of Detroit, according to the US Attorney's Office. However, during a news conference Thursday afternoon, US attorney Dawson Ison said those numbers are down this summer compared to 2023.
"Please don't mistake this for a celebration. The amount of violence in this city is still unacceptable and we will not stop this work until we see numbers in lower and double digits and even single digits," Ison said.
She was joined by Detroit Police Chief James White, Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison, and other stakeholders with the One Detroit Violence Reduction Partnership at the press conference.
Ison announced homicides dropped from 86 to 68, and non-fatal shootings decreased from 306 to 282. Leaders credit the partnership's community engagement activities like community picnics or peacenics, community peace huddles, re-entry roundtables, and community peace marches.
Chief White said, "And with those peacenics we're able to do different things. We're able to, one, let citizens see us in a non-confrontational way, whether they're playing checkers, basketball or just sitting and talking."
"It was a very positive thing and then to have resources there so when they leave the peacenic, they can go back to their respective communities and talk about the things that they've gleaned from the interaction," he explained.
Bishop Daryl Harris with the Faith-based Coalition of Detroit told 7 News Detroit, "And how that's playing out in the community is that I believe it's getting stronger each time because the more awareness that's put out there, the more people feel like there's a good outlet and good opportunity to be able to release some of that pain, some of that stress that could eventually turn into some kind of violence."
He added, "But because we have some of these different outlets going, we're seeing more people saying, 'Yes. We want peace.'"
