One of the perks of being a Challenge Detroit fellow is getting to participate in Leadership Fridays- a full work day set aside for professional growth, workshops, and lectures from important people within the city of Detroit who are making things happen. Our most recent Leadership Friday focus was Public Safety, at which we heard from multiple sources including Police Chief, James Craig. We also had the opportunity to discuss the topics among ourselves as follows.

I have had a lot of experience working in the city of Detroit on all sorts of projects in all sorts of neighborhoods as an architecture student at UDM. I have also lived in the Metro Detroit region since the age of 6. This experience has given me insight on the perceived safety of Detroit, and its relationship to Detroit Media sources. Detroit is a media phenomenon where people love to see us fail and they love to see us win. This is an opportunity and a curse. This means EVERYONE is looking for a story in Detroit- locally, nationally, and internationally. With such a large focus, it is easy to lose sight of what the details are within the stories- and it is the fault or pride of the media source for lifting, lowering, distorting, or clarifying what is happening here. “With great power comes great responsibility.” -Uncle Ben

Conveying facts, particularly statistics in media requires a lot of skepticism, or at least thought. After hearing from Police Chief, James Craig, I realized how important it is to understand crime statistics. Just because a place is rated as one of the most dangerous cities in America, it does not mean you have a higher likelihood of being a victim. For example, a higher population typically results in more crimes. If there are more people, a place could be rated to have lower crimes per capita, and therefore lower on a crime index- even though there is a higher likelihood of being a victim. Statistics related to crime reports by media and government are both complex representations of what is going on economically and socially in a place.

It is important to be honest about what people experience within the city not only to be fair to the residents who have been living here for their entire lives, but to have concrete data to make decisions. It is also important to develop a sense of urban etiquette- knowing how to act in a city. I have been encouraged to dig deeper when I hear “stories” about Detroit, to really understand what I am being presented, and I thought it valuable to share.I was very proud to have heard from Chief of Police, James Craig, as a Challenge Detroit Fellow and look forward to experiencing the results of his efforts and all police officers in Detroit- thank you for your service.