FEBRUARY 8 -14. 1987 THE ICHIGAN CITIZEN
3
Blae
ell:
a
ar
Crime drops, Business grows
HIGH
ity on the m ve to it former
level of excellence - that
ayor Robert Blac -
well' a ent of thi once
troubled city in hi "State of
the City ddress", Ian. 27.
ayor Blac well cited the
PUBLICS ETY
fter th flr year of a
combined flr and police de­
partment functionin one,
trained public ety unit, the
ayor reported drop in crime
d incre in fety.
city doubl d the number
of p trol unit availabl for
crim prevention, Blac well
ted.
It wa ccompli ed by
, cr trainin our exi mg per-
nnel of fireflghters in police
ience and trainin and hir-
ing 17 ne recruit publi
fety officer ," the
pl ined.
Police-community relation
were improved with the hiring
of a community rel tion cia­
li who organize block and
partment w tche .
civilian mobile neighbor-
. hood crime atch has been
organized and i looking for
more volunteer, the ayor
noted.
In the war on vi e the city
e e uted 109 criminal arch
warrant. The arre t increa s
were n ted - 336% more
prostitution arrest 258% more
drunk driving arre 240%
more weapons arre ts.
The police cadet program
trained and put on the reet
youth who reported missing
traffic sign abandoned car
overgrown vacant lot, and
e orted nior to the tore.
Blackwell said the city hope
to double the number of
cadet summer.
The ayor reported a de-
crea in crime of 370 fewer
crime committed. He broke
the li t down to: 179 fe er
auto thefts; 91 fewer burg­
larie; 72 fewer assault, 21
fewer ar n and 7 fewer rob­
beries than in 1985.
The fire rvices divisi on
responded to 962 reported fire
incidence, a drop of 16%
over 1985 and a 32% decline
compared to 1984.
Thi reduction in fire i
attributable in part to the
removal of many abandoned
structure increa d civic in­
volvement by community re '­
dents and the deligent inspect­
ion of the fire marshall's office, ,
Blackwell explained.
He credited prevention with
the key to SUCce . Fire safety
inspections were performed on
more than 200 busine and
apartment building. The ar n
reward program continue J as
does education in the hool.
The city's emergency medi­
cal respon unit answered calls
from 2 304 critically injured
or ill citizen
The ayor note pro cuti n
by city attorney of criminal
offenders h resulted in a
95% conviction rate.
Public Safety Director Harold
Iohn n received much of the
credit from the ayor for im­
provement in the community.
Highland . th fir
city in Michigan to adopt an
ordinance to provide for video
taping suspected drunk drivers.
"This kind of phy 'cal evidence
i going to increa the num­
ber of guilty pleas, while reduc­
ing the number of expen ive
time consuming trial" , the
Mayor noted.
Blac well noted the co C of
70000 Par Service grant.
With matching fund a play­
ground was installed by city
ere s including tennis court
ba etball court uffle board
court hor shoe pit picru
table bar-b-que bike rae and
parking.
-Improvement around the
Detroit 0 eopathic Ho pital
and Community Colle e funded
jointly by t. Luke D.e.H.
and the city.
=Four city- pon red home
repair pr gram continue to
improve the housing ock.
-Development of a certifi­
cation program requiring city
in pection prior to re-sale of
property .
-Street resurfacing on
Second, Glendale, and John R,
for a total of 25 bloc s repaved.
su taining public safety rvices
which include fire police
criminal pro cuti n, emergency
medical a si tance and public
safety admini tration
7 669 537. That amount
equal 44% of the city'
17 722,640 budget. The city
ha a population of clo to
2 000 P r ns.
EIGHBORHOOD IMPROVE­
E T
"As part of my administra­
tion's effort to rebuild the
city, 1986 h s en a number
of city- ponsored programs de­
signed to maintain attractive,
able neighborhood,' Mayor
Blackwell noted. He li ed the :
-City ere s cleared under-
bru from all alley and dug
flower bed in street dividers.
-Saw p ge of a 1.6
millage i ue to demolish va­
cant building. In 1986, 83
came down, with 200 more
slated for demolition this year.
-Cortland School area im­
proved with demolition of neigh­
boring building with a
(See the continuation of the
Mayor's address in nex t week's
Michigan Citizen).