Detroit Police Department

Detroit Police Department
Abbreviation	DPD
Patch of the Detroit Police Department.
Motto	Making Detroit a safer place to live, work, and visit.
Agency overview
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of Detroit in the state of Michigan, United States
Map of the Detroit Police Department's jurisdiction.
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian agency
Operational structure
Headquarters	1300 Beaubien St. (Current) 1300 John C. Lodge Freeway (New HQ under construction)
Officers	2,770[1]
Agency executive	Ralph L. Godbee Jr.[2], Chief of Police
Facilities
Districts	8 Central Eastern Northeastern Southwestern 6th Precinct 8th Precinct 10th Precinct 12th Precinct [3]
Website
Detroit Police Department
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Detroit Police Department (DPD), established in 1865, is responsible for the city of Detroit, Michigan.

History

Historic Detroit Police Headquarters at 1300 Beaubien in Greektown.

The Detroit Police Department was established in 1865 to serve the city's growing population and covers the city with 5 districts and two precincts. The Detroit Police Department was also the first in the country to utilize two way radios in their cars. A historical marker at Belle Isle describes the new advancement in technology.

Fallen officers

The Detroit Police Department has lost 8 officers between the years 2000 and 2011. During the 1970s, the department lost 26 officers in a span of ten years. Since 1878, The Detroit Police Department has lost 225 officers in the line of duty.^[4] The leading cause of death in the line of duty is gunfire, with a total of 149 officers slain.

Recent history

On September 4, 2008, as court proceedings were going on for then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Ella M. Bully-Cummings announced her retirement as the chief of police. She was the first female police chief in department history.

On May 16, 2010 while in the process of serving a warrant in search of a suspect, Detroit police allegedly shot and killed a 7-year-old child. There are conflicting statements on the cause of the shooting, officers claim that in a struggle with family members the gun accidentally discharged. An attorney for the family Geoffrey Feiger, claims that video footage shows the shot coming from an officer on the porch of the house^[5]. Aiyana Jones had been sleeping on a couch when police raided her home, released flash grenades and fired shots, one of which entered her skull.^[6] On July 22, 2010 Chief of Police Warren Evans was asked for his resignation from his position at the request of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, citing controversial actions related to the death of Jones on the A&E reality TV show "The First 48".^[7]

On January 23rd, 2011, Lamar Moore walked into the lobby of the 6th Precinct and open fired with a shotgun, wounding four police officers. Moore was then shot dead by several police officers as he attempted to continue shooting. No clear motivation has been established, although Moore was a suspect in the kidnapping of a thirteen year old girl. Footage of the shootout from a CCTV was subsequently released by the Detroit Police Department and became viral on the internet. ^[8]

Reorganization

In 2000, the city requested an investigation by the United States Justice Department into the Detroit Police Department which was concluded in 2003 over allegations regarding its use of force and civil rights violations.^[9] Despite the critics, the city proceeded with a major reorganization of the Detroit Police Department; simply put, the city seized the opportunity to trim its budget saving $20,000,000. The department's thirteen precincts were consolidated into six larger districts: central, southwestern, northeastern, eastern, western, and northwestern.

The reorganization has largely been hailed as a failure, with increased response times, higher call volumes, and less reliable patrol coverage. In 2009 in an attempt to rectify these problems Chief James Barren announced a plan to revert to the precinct system, and the Tenth and Twelve Precincts (formerly the Western District) reopened on February 2, 2009.^[10]

On March 1, 2011, it was announced that the Detroit Police Department will be reverting to the precinct structure as each of the then-existing districts will be split in two.^[11]

As of 2011, the department has 33% fewer sworn officers than in 2001, falling from a force of 4,093 to 2,770.^[12]

Relocation of the police headquarters

On June 11, 2010 it was reported that the City of Detroit would acquire the former MGM Grand Detroit temporary casino building (originally the IRS Data Center) on John C. Lodge Freeway for $6.23 million dollars ^[13] and convert it into the new police headquarters complex which will also house a crime lab operated by the Michigan State Police.^[14] The renovated building will also house the Detroit Fire Department headquarters. The former casino building has 400,000 square feet (37,000 m²) of space. The historic Detroit Police headquarters are in Greektown.

Miscellaneous

The service pistol of the Detroit Police Department was formally the Glock 22, but currently is a variant of the Smith & Wesson M&P series.^[15]

Rank structure and insignia

Title	Insignia
Chief
Assistant Chief
Deputy Chief
Commander
Inspector
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Investigator
Police Officer

Demographics

Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of DPD ^[16]:

• Male: 73%
• Female: 27%
• African-American/Black: 63%
• White: 34%
• Other: 3%

The Detroit Police Department has one of the largest percentages of sworn black officers of any major city police department. Incidentally, reports and allegations of racism and discrimination against whites and other non-African backgrounds have surfaced, even between employees of the department. Currently, 12 of the department's 15 upper command members including the chief, assistant chief of operations, assistant chief of administration, and all six of the department's district commanders are black.^[17]

In popular culture

• The Detroit Police Department's Homicide Section was featured in the new crime drama Detroit 1-8-7 on ABC. The show was filmed on location in Detroit.
• The Detroit Police Department is featured in the movie RoboCop. In the movie, the department has been privatized and in turn, serves the entire metro area, and is owned by a megacorpration, OCP.
• The Detroit Police Department is featured in the 1973 blaxploitation film Detroit 9000.
• The Detroit Police Department plays a major role in the 2005 film Four Brothers.
• The Detroit Police Department plays a major role in the 2011 film S.W.A.T.: Firefight, featuring Detroit City's S.W.A.T. Team.
• The Detroit Police Department plays a major role as the police force featured in the film Assault on Precinct 13.
• The Detroit Police Department is featured in the 2002 film Narc about two troubled detectives investigating the murder of an undercover cop.
• The Detroit Police Department is featured on the video game, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
• The Detroit Police Department has its own edition of the A&E television series SWAT and has also been featured in the series The First 48.
• Detective Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop series is an officer of the Detroit Police Department, and the actor portraying his commanding officer was an actual Detroit police commander, Gil Hill.
• Officers from the Detroit Police Department often appear on the Animal Planet show Animal Cops: Detroit, to help Michigan Humane Society officers in cases regarding animal abuse and neglect.
• The Detroit Police Department is the focus of the 2001 Steven Seagal film Exit Wounds.

See also

Law enforcement/Law enforcement topics portal

• Crime in Detroit, Michigan
• Government of Detroit
• List of law enforcement agencies in Michigan

Notes

1. ^ Steve Pardp (2011-08-04). "Detroit Police operation targets illicit drug sales". The Detroit News. http://www.detnews.com/article/20110804/METRO01/108040412/1409/Detroit-Police-operation-targets-illicit-drug-sales. Retrieved 2011-08-04. 
2. ^ George Hunter and Darren Nichols (2010-09-21). "Bing names Godbee Detroit police chief". The Detroit News. http://detnews.com/article/20100921/METRO01/9210394/Bing-names-Godbee-Detroit-police-chief. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
3. ^ "Police Stations". http://www.detroitmi.gov/DepartmentsandAgencies/PoliceDepartment/PoliceStations.aspx. Retrieved 2010-09-21. 
4. ^ "The Officer Down Memorial Page". http://www.odmp.org/agency/1000-detroit-police-department-michigan. Retrieved 05-08-2010. 
5. ^ "Detroit Police Coverd Up How Aiyanna Jones Died During Raid, Says Attorney Geoffrey Feiger". ABC News. May 18, 2010. http://abcnews.go.com/US/WorldNews/detroit-police-covered-aiyanna-jones-died-raid-attorney/story?id=10677976. Retrieved 21 July, 2011. 
6. ^ "Lawyer questions police version of raid that killed girl". CNN. May 17, 2010. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/16/michigan.police.child/index.html#disqus_thread. Retrieved 8 June 2010. 
7. ^ "Bing said he was 'blindsided' by Evans actions". Fox News Channel. July 22, 2010. http://www.detnews.com/article/20100722/METRO01/7220445/Bing-said-he-was--blindsided--by-Evans--actions. Retrieved 22 July 2010. 
8. ^ "Officers in shooting get an emotional tribute by Christine MacDonald and Leonard N. Fleming actions". Detroit News. February 11, 2011. http://www.detnews.com/article/20110211/METRO01/102110364/1409/metro/Officers-in-shooting-get-an-emotional-tribute. Retrieved 18 February 2011. 
9. ^ Quarterly Status Report to the Independent Federal Monitor. Detroit Police Department Retrieved on April 8, 2007.
10. ^ Lin, Judy and David Joser, (August 30, 2005).Detroit to trim 150 cops, precincts. Detroit News. Retrieved on July 24, 2007.
11. ^ http://detnews.com/article/20110301/METRO/103010404/Detroit-to-switch-back-to-police-precincts
12. ^ Steve Pardp (2011-08-04). "Detroit Police operation targets illicit drug sales". The Detroit News. http://www.detnews.com/article/20110804/METRO01/108040412/1409/Detroit-Police-operation-targets-illicit-drug-sales. Retrieved 2011-08-04. 
13. ^ New Detroit Police Headquarters (WXYZ-TV YouTube page)
14. ^ Michigan State Police to run Crime Lab in new DPD HQ Associated Press via MLive July 6, 2010
15. ^ Smith & Wesson advertisement in Sept. 2010 issue of Tactical Weapons magazine.
16. ^ Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers
17. ^ "Detroit Police Department Organizational Chart". Archived from the original on Feb 09, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209112445/http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/police/dept/chief/org.htm. Retrieved 8 June 2010.