Those still with me on my "autopsy" of Detroit, Here is a look at two neighboring zip codes in Detroit. 48205 is the deadliest zip code in America and the neighboring zip code is Grosse Pointe Woods.
48205 zip code has a population of 44,000 and Grosse Pointe 30,600. The median age of 48205 is 28 and GP is 45. The median income of 48205 is $26,648 and GP is $91,782. The median home value in 48205 is $44,800 and in GP is $215,800. 48205 is 98% black and GP is 88% white. The school districts are different and the schools are segregated. Unemployment rates in the two zips are 38.5% and 5.6% respectively. Poverty rates are 27.4% and 5.2%
25% of housing units are abandoned in 48205 contributing to blight. If you want to get a feel for the two neighborhoods check out Zillow for zip code 48205 and 48236.
Just reflect on this information. These are two zip codes within 5 miles of each other. One is lily-white and the other 100% black. The residents are Americans. But, they experience two very different Americas. Why is it this way? Why is it acceptable to any of us?
I believe an honest discussion of this issue is at the heart of solving social issues of crime, unemployment, and poverty in America. Would love to hear from anyone still following this topic.
you asked what are "they" doing about their community? Here is what "they" are doing
https://www.detroitnews.com/.../citizens-cops.../2364954001/
We (us) have this mental image of communities such as 48205 as being full of criminals, gangs, drug addicts, and undesirables, that is not so. 40,000 people live in 48205 and most are regular people who want what we all want. There are estimated to be 1800 felons in this community who cause most of the violence. The least that we(all of us) should do is to see these communities as they are and not the image that we have of them. To understand that most residents are peaceful and want the same things that we want. One small step forward will be if suburbanites change their perception of their urban neighbors.
More on all of this yet to come. Stay tuned.
Guns! Guns! Guns! There is a toxic cocktail of drugs and guns that makes Detroit the murder capital of America. I had never had the reason or the interest in looking into how guns are sold in America. I don't own a gun and am in favor of gun control, more so now that I am looking into gun trafficking.
Gun trafficking is big business in Detroit, it is only second to drug trafficking, and goes hand in hand with it. ATF estimates that there are hundreds of thousands of guns in circulation in Detroit. The guns of choice of criminals are 9mm semi-automatic and .40 and .45 caliber semi-automatics. In researching guns in Detroit I have learned new terms such as "straw purchase" (purchasing a gun legally for someone else), Glocks, and short barrel long guns.
Gun trafficking is gun running, it is illegal but money-making. Of late the Chinese (silencers) and the Mexican cartels are also part of the gun trafficking scene in Detroit.
https://www.dbusiness.com/business.../a-dangerous-game/
Guns most preferred by criminals are
https://www.thetrace.org/2016/01/chicago-crime-guns-chart/
BTW hunting is NOT the reason guns are being bought and sold in Detroit
https://www.mlive.com/.../michigan_gun_ownership_by_the_1...
I wish all those who are not in favor of gun control but decry crime in our inner cities would study how guns are being used in Detroit. Guns = homicide in Detroit. Drug gangs want guns to protect themselves and to eliminate competition, this creates a market for guns. It gives rise to another class of criminals who commit robbery and assault to procure guns. Thus guns are involved in drug wars, and in robbery and assault triggered by the demand for guns created by drug wars. Detroit in this regard is a war zone.
2nd Amendment is sacred but I do not believe that the Founding Fathers would have intended 2nd Amendment to protect murderers and drug gangs such as we have in Detroit. Just my belief. I have been sickened by what I have learned from studying gun violence in Detroit. Detroit would be a different city if guns were better regulated, not that criminals would not find other ways of committing crimes, perhaps there would be fewer of them and less lethal. This point is debatable.
I am close to wrapping up my research into Detroit, so I am hoping that you will pay close attention to the next few posts (there could be as many as 5 new posts after this).
It is estimated that Detroit now has about 100,000 felons convicted for petty or violent crimes. There are approximately 600,000 adults in Detroit. This means that there are 500,000 adults in Detroit who are NOT felons (PERSPECTIVE).
There are five times as many residents of Detroit who are not felons as there are felons. On the other hand, 1 in 6 adults that you would meet in Detroit has a chance of being a felon. The vast majority of Detroiters are good people. It's the few who commit all the crimes, and many of these folks are part of a gang or are committing crimes to sustain their drug habit.
Drugs are a lucrative business, guns are a tool of the drug business. If by some MAGIC one could get the money out of drugs or eliminate the drug business it would go a long way to cleaning up Detroit. Will we ever get rid of drugs in our society? Unlikely. The drug issue is not a Detroit issue alone, it is a societal issue. Yes, Detroit should control drug trafficking better but it alone cannot solve the key driver of crime in the city.
It is also worth noting that the drug trade has "pushers" and customers. The majority of the customers of the gangs are suburbanites, athletes, celebrities, politicians and supposedly upright citizens. They are seldom the victims of the gangs. The victims are other blacks caught in the web of the drug trade.
It would be good to keep track of issues that are within Detroit's ability to solve and those that are societal for which we, collectively, are responsible. How do we control our heroin, cocaine, and an opioid pandemic?
I am not suggesting that eliminating drugs is the answer to all of Detroit's problems. There is a lot more ground to cover yet.
With this as a backdrop, I will get back to zooming in on zip code 48205.
Next post.
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