- An i-drug march draws
mixed support
By FLODEAN S. RIGGS
DETROIT - When Hildale
Street residents on the city's
ortheast side peered through
their curtains Saturday, Aug.
26, they saw tnore than the
regular drug dealers.
They also saw some of their
neighbors marching with anti­
drug signs through the same
areas where drugs are common­
lypeddled.
But to the marchers' dismay
100 ing is all they did, saic:t.Ran­
tine McKe son, march or­
ganizer.
"Some .people clapped their
hands, but none of them joined
the march," McKe on said.
The time of the march was
structured so that noone would
be excluded. It started at 8 a.m.
with a pr er rally and ended' t
midnight.
More children than adults
showed up and marched, Mc­
Kesson said.
he children really stuck in
'w
A
8y Ron" i zel
NOTE: In Iuty a group of
. communis ' organizations put
together a People's Platform,
which they urged Detroit can­
didates ill the upcoming elec­
tions to support. The: Michiga"
Citizen is running a series Oil the
different sections of the platfonn.
DETROIT - A major con­
cern in the Detroit election is
crime. The People's Platform
proposed several way to stop
crime by improving the efficien­
cy of the police and courts, stop
drugs, arson and domestic
violence.
The platform called for can­
did te for city office to sup­
port:
- Fining or seizing property
of a entee landlords who allow
identifiable drug sale on their
property after due notification
. and proof.
- Publicizing ways that
landlords can quickly evict
tenants, when there is evidence
of drug sales going on in their
property.
- Confiscation during ar­
rests of all hand guns, automatic
or assault weapons.
- Increasing emplo ees in
the probation and parole
departments, and communica­
tion between different parts of
these departments, as well as
developing cooperative
f. programs between court juris­
dictions.
- Stop routing all precinct
calls through the 911" system,
there for us," she said. "They
really do recognize that there is
a problem and they want us to
do som thing about it."
Adults living in the drug in­
fested area frequently complain
about the drug trafficking and
its associated violence. But
none of them supported the
march, she said.
"They are just too busy or
they're afraid or they just don't
care," .-McKesson said. "They
want us to handle' their
problems."
. Among the adults who did
show up for the march were
candidates for city council and
mayor including Sigmunt
Sz(.."Zepkowski,. Hilton Kincaid,
Tru Love and U.S. Con­
gressman J ohn Conyers.
Szczepkowski was hit with "
rock thrown by someone
protesting the march, but con­
tinued on shouting through the
bullhorn, McKesson said.
Kincaid, who is currently a
Detroit police officer, said that
combating drugs starts with the
community but more influential
figures must get seriously in-
. volved.
Adults have to march, as the
children did on Saturday, and
express their concerns to their
local government, he said. "It's
what the people want," Kincaid
said. "Until there is a public
demand for change nothing will
happen."
,
Thoughth
themarchw
he believes th some ofthe re i­
dents woke u ."
Later in t e evening more
people joine the march, but
McKesson as still disap­
pointed in th community be­
cause of the lack of
involvement.
The reside ts are apathetic
and blame th perpetu I drug
problem on I ck of anti-drug
c
DETRO T DO AB
UT C
?
•
.
PEOPLE'S PLATFORM HAS IDEA
which is suppo ed to be used
only for life threatening emer­
gencie ,so that the most serious
problems 'can have top priority.
- Eliminating political con­
trol over police management by
the mayor's appointees,
through having four members
of the Board of Police Commis­
sioners elected, all police
management up to Deputy'
Chief placed under the civil ser­
vice system.
- Letting the mayor keep
the right to appoint the Chief of
Police, but giving the City
Council and the (partially
elected) Board of Police Com­
missioners the power to ap­
prove or reject the mayor's '
choice.
- Increasing the number of
police' in residential are by
reassigning officer from
downtown or from special
events and increasing the num­
ber of paid civilian personnel in
clerical and other positions
which do not require officer .
- Appointment of a special
"Arson Cop" in each precinct
with the main responsibility for
coordinating arson investiga­
tions and prosecutions.
- Instituting a grand jury
system at local levels for major
anti-crime initiatives.
The People's Platform was -
concerned about dangerous
criminals going free. It called
for - Less plea barg ining.
- Full prosecution for multi­
criminal acts involving violence.
- On the other hand, having
those convicted of mis­
dcameanors [lesser crimes] and
youthful offenders more
punishment through com­
munity service and other Corms
of alternate cntcncing, rather
than sending them to jail. (It was
felt that trying to reserve the
jails for the most dangerous
criminals would relieve jail
overcrowding. Many criminals
have been released, because of
court rulings that overcrowded
jails represent cruel and un­
usual punishment, forbidden by
the U.S. Constitution.)
- Require judges to spend
more time on the bench han­
dling cases (so that court cases
could be tried more quickly.)
• - Establish a judicial review
commission made up of a rep­
re entative of the police,' a
member of the bar association
representing defense lawyer , a
"citizen representative," a city
appointee and a judge.
- Have "staggered terms"
for judge with elections at dif­
ferent intervals.
The platform suggested that
the criminal justice system fre­
quently failed to prosecute hu -
bands who assault d wives,
because some law enforcement
officials with discriminatory at­
titudes toward women failed to
recognize family violence" a
crime." The platform called for
- An enforcement of a man­
datory arrest .policy in wife as­
sault and other domestic
violence cases.
- Creati n of a Domestic
Violence Tas Force to monitor
arrests and fo low-through.
The platf m charged al 0
there wa a "I' ck of crimin I in-
. vestigation an seriou pursuit"
of ar oni t , t at ar on wa ac­
cepted as "ro tine", not een :
"preventable" nd wa "treated
a problem f the fire depart­
ment rather t an the police,
The platfo called for:
- "More lice investigation
at the neigh hood level, with
maximum cit' n input, to iden­
tify arsonists d arrest them."
- A public nformati n cam­
paign letting pie kn rw f the
new policy an strict p rsuit of
. convictions.
- "More aggressive in lve­
ment of the courts and
prosecutor in the co viction
nd sentencing of arsonist ."
The platform sugge ed that
police officers had a a of
legal experience and knowledge
in investigative capacities" and
called for
. - Continuing classes in in­
vestigative techniques.
- Closer monitoring and en­
forcement of the police depart­
ment employee residency
requirement and restrictions on
having a second job.
- Setting up a joint bure u
to improve communications be­
tween departments, including
the arson department.'?"
Charging that the pollee and
administration gave "littl� s p­
port for community initia ed
crime prevention" and h ld
"scorn for citizens who -get in-
enforcement by the police
force, she said.
"They're not . . g to do the
citizens' PMt: cKesson said.
hey don't ca 224-DOPE or
hey call 911 when they see
omething."
The community has to let the
ealers and the buyers know
hat their type of business' not
anted in their neighborhood,
he said.
volved", the platform called for
measures that would create "a
working, coopertative partner­
ship" between the police and
"community members con­
cerned about crime. These
measures included:
- "Get officers out of cars
and stations into more direct
contact with citizens" through
"more foot patrols" and ervice
assignments involving "public
contact."
- Active recruitment of all
minorities, including Hispanic,
Oriental, and Ar bic.
- Incre e role of females in
investigations.
The platform was n only
concerned about catching
criminals, but rehabilit ting
them. It called for
- "A major initi tive" to
reestablish rehabilitation
programs in the correction sys­
tem.
- Creation of "mentor
pI cement" programs for young
offenders and female offenders
"with intensive counseling and
rehabilitative activity."
- More education in the
schools about arson, t law, the
dangers, and the ri
There were suggestions
about measures to stop drug
sales. The platform urged
- Vigorous enforcement of
loitering and no drinking la .
- The use of treet, be t and
mini-bike patrols.
- Creation of a metro uni to
act in cooperation with
Contfnu d 0 P 10