Detroit Versus Detroit

You try and work hard, to better your life & those around you.

Reminds me of "no good deed goes unpunished".

I wish Josh & his family the very best.
 
Everything in this world is political.....

If you read deeper and think about this.... Rose was investigating a rash of vehicle break in's (in Josh's neighborhood-or very close) and it looking more & more like this theft ring is likely a inside job.... is it possible Rose was killed by the same group?
 
Saw also which I'm sure just about everyone else did too...One was stolen out of the dealer showroom last week.
Also a few F150's, right out of the service department, not necessarily in Detroit though.
Just goes to show, got the balls, it'll happen, ridiculous.
 
Josh's story is a horrible read.

I worked in new center and downtown for ~10 years. Personally had good luck & no major incidents, but also enough common sense to consciously avoid trouble as much as possible. A couple co-workers weren't as lucky, even getting mugged at lunch (noon) around Eastern Market - no one was hurt, thankfully. Total respect to Josh in trying to participate in making things better down there, but there's just no way I would live down there, with a wife/family, including with flashy cars, or high dollar (or emotional value) shop equipment short of having a place as locked down as Fort Knox. Just a matter of time otherwise - sad but true.
 
Josh's business being cleared out was a message. The people that did it had no fear for what they were doing. Sound like they had no fear stealing cars from his lot either.
So then... back to Rose. Petty thief stealing car audio are not going to shoot a cop (imo)... I'm thinking Rose knew his shooter and that why he was killed.... who ever it was did not want to be identified.
 
Wow, just read this on YB. Glad you posted it Rich. I can't imagine the feeling he's going through right now. It's sad that there are so many people who have faith in Detroit and actually moved down there to help it grow image positive way, yet the core of Detroit is determined to not let that happen. Sadly, I really believe the culture needs to change first which sadly, isn't going to happen anytime soon. Best of luck to you Josh and sorry for your losses.
 
I moved to S.E. Michigan in spring of 1995 and have spent a fair amount downtown drinking, bar-hopping, attending sporting events, etc. and have never had an issue. However, I feel pretty fortunate as I've heard countless stories from co-workers, friends, etc. over the years.

From what I've seen in print and via social media, Josh has been one of the most vocal advocates for the city of Detroit and has done a hell of a job to spin things as best he could yet be realistic. It's a shame that he and his wife have been dealt a shitty hand and it's quite obvious he's been targeted directly with the shop break-in. There is something horribly fishy about all this ill-fortune. Best of luck to he and Darla wherever they land.
 
This is awful.. My husband and I love going to downtown Detroit for dinner, games, etc.. We had our entire wedding downtown. We have never even SEEN anything bad happen, although I know it does every day. Reading this makes me want my husband to get his new carry even sooner.. Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to have it with us for most of the things we go there for (drinks, sporting events). I guess having it in the car while driving is better than nothing.
So sorry for Josh.. and what happened to Officer Rose makes me absolutely sick
 
i stay the fuck out of Detroit...fuck that shit hole
bulldoze that shit hole to the ground, start from downtown and work your way out.
 
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All of the people who say they go downtown, leave the greenzone and see real detroit, nothing has changed or will change in detroit until the memories of coleman are gone,
 
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read it, it got a lot of shares from the old school Motown crowd which I greatly appreciate.

The FBI has a long term thing going on, they were in the process of ramping up this internal investigation as they were wrapping up the Macomb corruption case. My hope is that they have some shit in the works they just don’t want meto know about. One of the agents was very forthcoming, but she was a friend of a friend. The other guy, well, it felt like he was feeding me lines. “This isn’t like TV, it takes time.” If there’s onething I’ve learned from TV police shows it’s that when they say “this isn’t like TV” it’s exactly like TV ;)

Struggling over what I was and was not going to tackle in this piece was one reason I took so long in writing it. Like Darla says, too often the kids doing the dirty work look at it as opportunity, not a crime. They can justify it, telling themselves “insurance will cover it” or just not caring about anything but survival. Generations growing up in that atmosphere, not easy to shake. Worse truancy rate in the country, worse actual student competency in the country, and rife with administrative corruption, Detroit Public Schools are nothing short of a disaster. They’ve lost an insane amount of industry to not just overseas, but to the suburbs. No doubt most of the blame lies within Detroit itself and its past ruling politicians and terrible policy.
I think Police Chief James is the first head of police that hasn’t been the subject of major corruption probes in decades. Half our last city council either ended up in jail or quit before they had the chance. Kwame was just the shining example of what’s been a terrible crooked government for years. I heard someone say “you can have an inept government, you can have a crooked government, but you can’t have both.” Detroit had both for way too long.
I purposefully stay away from the race and sociopolitical angles. It would have absolutely not had the intended effect. It would have just given people an excuse to stand behind their ideology instead of looking at what actually is. Careers have been made trying to sort out why Detroit became Detroit, and not all of them agree. At this point that wasn’t my focus.
 
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My father in law is a successful businessman who does a lot of charity and a lot of it being in Detroit. Every year before Thanksgiving he loads up a moving truck with hundreds of frozen turkeys and we drive around in a huge group and go to different shelters, churches, and schools and donate the turkeys. We drive around to some pretty bad areas and see the bad neighborhoods. Our last stop this year was at an elementary school and after we unloaded the turkeys we went into the lunchroom to see the kids from the school and I couldn't help but feel sad for all of them for the things they are exposed to in Detroit, the people they encounter, their limited education, and the future that I'm sure some of them will have... It's a shame.

He also drives around with sleeping bags in his car sometimes and if he's downtown and spots a homeless person out in the cold, he'll toss them a sleeping bag. He really wants to make a difference but he knows sometimes it's just not going to happen, no matter how hard he tries.
It's sad.
 
The Man said:
no offense, but the areas where you think are bad, are not. Those areas get 100% ignored....
Click to expand...

No offense but you don't know what I'm talking about. Trust me, I've seen the bad areas. My dad was a Detroit police officer a long time ago. After he retired he used to drive us through the really shitty areas to show us where he used to work and what situations happened where. For example, "that house right there was my first run ever as a police officer. A 16 year old girl tried to give herself an abortion with a coat hanger".. It probably wasn't the safest thing for us to do, but he wanted me to see it. He also worked as a private investigator and had to go into some shitty areas.
He also worked at Joseph Campau and McNichols.. which isn't great but that job had him driving into some pretty nasty areas. He's seen it all and when we were downtown for something, he would take the side roads out to give us a glimpse of what things are really like in Detroit..
He nor I would do this anymore, but it was definitely an eye opener for me, and i know things are only getting worse
 
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