Tanya Moutzalias

Mayor Bing holds the $23,500 donation from AAA Michigan presented by (left) AAA MI President Steve Wagner with Detroit Fire Commissioner, Donald Austin, to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation for the inspection of Detroit Fight Department aerial and ground ladders Wednesday morning, May 15. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)

See more pictures here:  http://photos.mlive.com/detroit/2013/05/aaa_michigan_donates_23500_to_15.html

• BY DARREN A. NICHOLS

Detroit — Mayor Dave Bing announced Wednesday the city will receive $23,500 from AAA Michigan for the inspection of 20 aerial ladders and 4,600 feet of ground ladders used by the city’s fire department.

The donation is being given to the Detroit Public Safety Foundation for the repair and inspection work. The foundation is part of Bing’s Active and Safe Campaign.

“They deserve the best possible equipment to do their jobs,” Bing said.

According to the city, the ladder inspections are required to keep the equipment in compliance with standards of the National Fire Protection Association. AAA has also pledged to donate the same amount for 2014, AAA Michigan president Steve Wagner said.

Fire Commissioner Donald Austin ordered the testing of the ladder fleet around Christmas last year. Testing on the 20 ladders will begin May 29, he said. About eight hours of testing is required.

Read more here: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130516/METRO01/305160359

AAA Michigan will donate $23,500 to theDetroit Public Safety Foundation to pay for ladder inspections for the Detroit Fire Department.

The donation will pay for the inspection of 20 aerial ladders and 4,600 feet of ground ladders. Inspections are required to keep the fire department in compliance with standards of the National Fire Protection Association.

Detroit Fire Commissioner Donald Austin ordered last February that until a full inspection of the entire ladder fleet was completed, firefighters would not be able to climb up on ladders unless there was an immediate threat to life.

The gift is the latest in a series of recent corporate donations to support public safety and recreation programs in the city.

Bing’s Active and Safe Campaign has a goal of raising $60 million to support the city’s recreation centers, as well as provide training, equipment and technology to the police and fire departments.

Read the rest here: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130515/NEWS/130519926/aaa-michigan-donation-latest-in-biz-support-of-public-safety-in

DETROIT, MI – A documentary about the Detroit Fire Department called “Burn” that debuted in the city last fall keeps generated buzz and attention across the country.

The film’s website has released 56 new screenings dates in 31 cities from Feb. 20 to April 11 including screenings in Okemos (near Lansing and Windsor, Ontario).

Tickets can be purchased on the website and are $15 online or $20 at the door (if available).

I saw the movie in September and highly recommend it. The premiere at the Fillmore Detroit drew plenty of cheers from firefighters and civilians.

This film from Brenna Sanchez, a Detroit native, and Tom Putnam captures a year on the front lines of the Detroit Fire Department and gives you sense for how firefighters deal with the challenges of the job in a cash-strapped city.

Sanchez and Putnam created the film after captured 1,000 hours of firefighting action over an 18-month period.

This film serves as a fundraiser for the department and was – at least initially – solely funded by Sanchez and Putnam, who are renting theaters around the country with the hope the film will become a money maker and first-run phenomenon.

To read the remainder of the story, click here.

February 08, 2013

Detroit Fire Department Engine 34 and Ladder 27 extinguish an arson truck fire in Southwest Detroit on Toledo and Campbell Friday afternoon, Feb. 8. A possibly-stray pit bull hung around the scene completely unafraid of the smoke or firemen, even going inside the fence with them. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)

To see the rest of Tanya’s photo essay, click HERE.

January 23, 2013

DETROIT — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says at first glance, Detroit’s crime statistics may be a little misleading.

The city is not as dangerous as Bing says the media reports make it out to be.

In an effort to illustrate his point, Bing, Interim Chief Chester Logan and Inspector Dwayne Blackmon dug deeper into the 2012 homicide stats, looking at who the victims were, how they knew their killers, where they occurred and their race and gender.

The Detroit Police Department tallied 411 homicides in 2012, 25 of which were deemed justified and the remainder criminal.

The Detroit Free Press evaluated the number of homicides each year per 100,000 Detroit residents and found the number of killings per capita in 2012 was the highest for any year since 1993.

To summarize: the majority of victims, 78 percent, were black males — most under 30 — the vast majority of killings, 88 percent, occurred in residential neighborhoods; a large portion, 37.3 percent, resulted from arguments; and only 11.4 percent didn’t already know their killer (with the relationship undetermined in 46.9 percent of the cases)

“It looks like a lot of the… media” portrays that “you can’t walk down the street in the city of Detroit,” said Bing Wednesday at a second of two meetings with media to discuss 2012 crime stats, department restructuring and promotions. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

To read the remainder of the article, click here.

• BY GEORGE HUNTER

Detroit — The Detroit Police Department will eliminate its gang and tactical units to add about 100 officers to homicide, criminal investigations and traffic enforcement, the city announced Wednesday.

“The first phase of the restructuring will immediately add approximately 100 or more officers to patrols and investigations,” Interim Detroit Police Chief Chester Logan said in a release handed out in advance of a press conference.

The officers redeployed to homicide should increase the city’s ability to close investigations and better link gun-related crimes in the city, according to the statement.

Eliminating the gang squad won’t negatively impact the city’s ability to police gangs, officials said, because “intelligence gathering will continue and will be better communicated in a decentralized format,” according to the statement.

Read the complete story here.

By Matt Helms

Mayor Dave Bing and top police brass this morning said they expect to redeploy 100 more police officers to street patrols in the coming months as part of a major reorganization of the shrunken Detroit Police Department.

Bing and Interim Police Chief Chester Logan confirmed the department is disbanding its gang squad and tactical mobile division in a move to get more officers off desk duties and out of specialized missions, instead putting more cops on patrol. The move comes as Detroit recorded the highest rate of homicides last year in nearly two decades.

“We have to make sure all of our resources are being properly utilized,” Logan said at a news conference this morning at Bing’s office. “We want to make sure everyone who can be put on patrol is on patrol.”

Logan and other top police officials said the disbanding of the gang squad won’t diminish the city’s fight against gang violence, but rather will spread gang-fighting duties around to precincts. That comes despite rising complaints that groups of juveniles are targeting people to rob and assault, but police don’t considered these groups to be gangs in the typical sense.

The department also announced it has initiated a new round of possible promotions for officers to become sergeants, something the city hasn’t done in two years. Logan said it will send a message to the rank and file that the department is still alive and willing to promote and groom future leaders even as Detroit’s daunting budget crisis results in a smaller police force.

Read the entire story here.

Reporting Kathryn Larson

DETROIT (WWJ) - Just three months after members of the Detroit Police Officer Association warned visitors that the “war-like” city was too dangerous and they should enter at their own risk, the union’s president is saying people shouldn’t be afraid to go downtown and see the Auto Show.

DPOA President Mark Diaz said despite recent collective bargaining issues and their newly imposed 12 hour work days, the men and women of the Detroit Police Department will be out in full force during the North American International Auto Show — which is in town through Jan. 27.

“We’re going to saturate the entire downtown area for those that are coming in, visiting, not just going to the Auto Show but attending various shows, as well as going to the restaurants. We want to make sure its a great experience, a safe experience for everyone coming into the city, and again, those living in the city, and we encourage them to come,” he said.

Diaz, a 20-year veteran of the force, said he knows officers in Detroit are being pushed to their limits, but that doesn’t stop them from doing their job to protect and serve the city’s citizens and visitors.

“It’s a tough job that we have. We definitely have a lot of cards stacked against us, but our guys are very dedicated to ensuring that everyone coming into the city for the Auto Show will receive the utmost security and protection,” he said.

Read the rest here.

Jan 07 2013

DETROIT - Fire departments in Detroit and Harper Woods will receive more than $700,000 in grants to help out firefighters.

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters announced Monday, the two cities would see funds from the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program.

Detroit’s Fire Department has been awarded $661,647 and the Harper Woods Fire Department will receive $48,783.

The grant will be used to outfit firefighters with equipment needed to serve the community.

“I’m proud to announce over $700,000 in federal funding to improve public safety by supporting hard working firefighters in the Detroit area,” said U.S. Rep. Gary Peters. “Every day, our first responders put their lives on the line to protect our families, that’s why it’s so important to ensure that they are equipped and ready to handle any emergency. By making an investment to improve safety in Detroit and Harper Woods, we’re securing a brighter future for our region.”

For more, see WDIV’s story here.