By Suzette Hackney, Detroit Free Press
Some Detroit police officers and sergeants who have been sitting behind desks are hitting the streets in patrol cars in an effort to beef up police presence in two of the city’s busiest precincts.
Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings has started a pilot program in which about 25 officers and sergeants will be reassigned to patrol the 5th (Jefferson) and 8th (Northwest) Precincts on Fridays and Saturdays. The reassignments add about six cars on patrol in each precinct.
The officers, who started the patrols at the beginning of the month, answer only priority calls. Their primary job is to patrol neighborhood streets.
The two precincts -- one on the east side and one on the west side -- were chosen because they receive the highest weekend volume of calls for service.
“The goal is to increase police visibility,” said James Tate, a Detroit Police Department spokesman.
Police officials said they expect fewer burglaries, larcenies and armed robberies.
In September, more officers will be reassigned to patrol two precincts where the highest numbers of non-fatal shootings occur. Police officials do not want to disclose which precincts those are. This effort is part of the city’s response to an increase in shootings this year.
From Jan. 1 to Sunday, Detroit had 910 reported shootings, a 23-percent increase from the same period last year, according to department statistics.
The reassigned officers have undergone a refresher course on patrol policy and procedure.
“Most of these people haven’t been on the street in 15 or more years,” said Cmdr. Walter Martin, executive staff officer for the chief of police. “The chief is trying to get to the mindset that we came on to this job to be police officers.”