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Detroit Police Department - Coggle Diagram
Detroit Police Department
Delicacy of Black credibility and how easily/quickly it is dismantled
Detroit Police Department perception of Black citizens/residents (automatically guilty, etc.)
In the 2022 movie Barbarian, the main character Tess bumps into a patrol car with two police officers by chance is is frantically attempting to explain how she just narrowly escaped death while trying to convince the officers to follow her back to the house to save Keith. The officers hesitate to take any action and, at one point, Tess pauses her story and says, "I'm not a crackhead, I'm not crazy". Even after making this declaration, the police are still not fully on board with her story.
In Barbarian, the homeless man is first introduced when he is (seemingly) chasing Tess and she starts screaming and running into the house. She quickly gets inside and locks the door before the man can get inside. Later, it is revealed that the homeless man was not trying to harm her and that he was only trying to warn her to stay away from the house. Because of the way he looks and his current socioeconomic status, he has completely lost his credibility with the police and bystanders. If that man were to walk into the police department and attempt to report the crime that has been taking place in that home for decades, the police officers would probably laugh at him and kick him out, even though he would telling the truth and helping to solve cold cases.
According to research-based article, "DETROIT UNDER STRESS" The Campaign to Stop Police Killings and the Criminal State in Detroit by Austin McCoy, the Detroit Police Department is responsible for the unlawful beatings of Black teenagers who were found in a confrontation with white women. The teenagers were found innocent following an investigation that resulted in the suspension of the police officers involved.
In July 1968, the Crime Control Ordinance was passed by the Detroit Common Council. This legalized and regulated 'stop-and-frisks' by the Detroit Police Department on unassuming residents and allowed interrogations and searches to be conducted without probable cause for arrests. This was widely believed to be targeted at and thought to be punishment for Black people.
Mayor Jerome Cavanah narrated the crime as a geographical issue, as opposed to a race issue and this was widely controversial in the city.
Mayor Roman Gribbs ran a mayoral campaign that was in heavy support and advocated for being tougher on crime and was one of the main reasons that he won. Once in office, he implemented the S.T.R.E.S.S. (stop the robberies, enjoy the streets) unit within the Detroit Police Department. Out of a unit of more than one hundred police officers, fewer than ten of them were Black.
According to article 'Crime Fiction and Black Criminality' by Theodore Martin, the crimes of Irish and Italian immigrants were rationalized by the assumed needs of survival relating to poverty while the crimes of Black people were falsely attributed to their biology and them being culturally innate. Black people were blamed for the state of crime in the city of Detroit.
1950 novel 'Strangers on the Train' tells the story of two white men who meet on the train and come up with an elaborate murder scheme. One man actually commits the murder. The men are unassuming because they are white, clean-cut, and no one believes that they could perform this act. The men do not fit the mold of the blame that was fed to the masses during that time: Poor Black people are the reason for the high crime rates in Detroit. The final scene of the novel ends with the person suspected of the crime being described as someone to whom would be committed 'lynchings and murders'.
Lack of urgency on behalf of Detroit Police Department
Delayed response time (or no response) to incidents (abandoning/leaving people in danger rather than investigating concerns and keeping them safe
Pattern of being significant steps behind criminal suspects/perpetrators
Not having a handle on criminal investigations
Throughout Detroit 9000, the police officers are chasing a gang of criminals around the city. They find out information a moment too late or not at all. These small fragments of time between tracking down another lead are what keep the Detroit Police Department so far removed from the investigation.
When watching The Crow, the police never solved the murder of Shelley, Eric's fiance. A year later, Eric (risen from the dead) solves the murder himself with only a tiny bit of help from one officer who believes his story.
Eric single-handedly tracks down every member of the gang that was involved in the gang rape that lead to Shelley's death. He does this by investigating, tracking down leads, and following through -- not of which were done by the police when the crime originally occurred one year prior. The entire investigation is unfolded by him in one day.
In Barbarian, the main turning point in the plot is when it is revealed who the house originally belonged to and the nature of the heinous crimes that were committed there. Using the cars, clothing, music, and social dialogue as context clues throughout the flashback scenes that tell the story of the past, the crimes started in or around the 1950s. We know this because Frank's neighbor tells him that he is moving his family out of town because the "whole place is going to hell".
The irony of this is that Tess is a visitor who is only in town for a job interview and stumbles upon this crime and uncovers what the police had no idea about for decades. She meets a homeless man whom she first thinks is out of his mind when he is chasing her as she is making her way into the house after her interview. When she runs into him after escaping death, he is the one to explain what has been going on in the house for all this time and leads her to a (seemingly) safe place. It is an illustration to the oblivion that the Detroit Police Department exist in with regards to some of these crimes.
According to research-based article, "DETROIT UNDER STRESS" The Campaign to Stop Police Killings and the Criminal State of Detroit by Austin McCoy, a shootout between anti-drug activists and STRESS officers resulted in several wounded officers and the escape of a local heroin dealer.
During an extensive search for the dealer, the Detroit Police Department conducted several unlawful searches of private homes without warrants. Many Black families complained and one woman even stated that she was forced to undress down to her underwear while her home was searched.
After two separate shooting events that left several officers wounded and one dead, the perpetrator was still not in police custody and loose on the streets of Detroit. The extensive efforts made to implement S.T.R.E.S.S. would have been better utilized to streamline operations for the unit, fund proper training, as well as workshops to rebuild relationships between the police department and the Black residents of Detroit.
Sloppy follow-through on criminal leads/suspects/witnesses
General disregard for safety and well-being of Detroit residents (especially in mainly Black areas)
During the 2008 recession, around 7,000 Black people were displaced from their homes due to the housing market crash.
During the Detroit Riots of 1967, more than 7,000 people were arrested, 1,700 stores were looted, 1,400 buildings were burned, 1,189 people were injured, and 43 people were killed. The damages totaled more than $50 million in damages.
In Barbarian when Tess leads the police to the house where the crime is happening, they knock on the door and when there is no answer, they leave abruptly. Her bloody, dirty appearance did not raise any brows because of the type of people they were used to seeing in the neighborhood.
In Grievers by Adrienne Maree Brown, the virus targets only Black residents of Detroit. Because they are not living and experiencing it for themselves, the white residents in town are unaffected by what is happening around them.
Although many incidents occurred during the years that the S.T.R.E.S.S. unit was active involving injuries and deaths of civilians and officers, the unit was not abolished until the year after Mayor Young was elected into office in 1973. During its' activity, many complaints were made against the S.T.R.E.S.S. unit, including the unlawful searches of private homes of Black residents, unprovoked stop-and-frisks, and even the death of Clarence Manning Jr.
In August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones, two older ladies who live next door to August come to his house to thank him for the renovations and work he has done on their house. They comment on what a nice thing it is that he is doing for them and for the neighborhood. They even allude that the government should be taking the initiative to fix the neighborhood and not its own residents.
In August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones, August stops Jimmy in the street when he is about to get into some trouble. When August asks Jimmy why he leads the lifestyle that he leads, he explains that he is just doing what he has to in order to get by. This supports the notion that Black people commit crime out of necessity, poverty, and survival, as well as any other race group.
Capitalization of notorious crime rate for personal, political, and/or financial gain
Movie writers/directors, news reporters, newspaper publishers, etc.
During the advertising and marketing for Detroit 9000, poster boards with the movie cover would alternate the white cop and Black cop as the prominent character in the film based on which neighborhood it was posted in.
If the poster board was going up in Downtown, the Black cop would be emphasized over the white cop. If the poster board was going up in the suburbs, the white cop would be positioned larger and further in front than the Black cop.
In The Crow, the only time the actual place setting is alluded to (it is never officially mentioned) is when someone refers to it as the 'Motor City'. Because one of Detroit's nicknames is the 'Motor City', it can be assumed that the movie is set in the city of Detroit.
Besides this vague reference, there are no other identifiable landmarks that are exclusive to the city of Detroit. The actual filming did not even take place in Detroit. Other than the movie being premised on the vengeance of a sex crime and wrongful death of an innocent person, what motivating factors led to the decision to set the movie in Detroit? It is nothing other than the notorious crime rate. Viewers watch the film and think, "Yeah, something like this could definitely happen in Detroit".
Almost the entire movie takes place in dark rooms and this film choice is deliberate. The dark backgrounds and lighting are meant to make the viewer feel dark, desolate, and maybe even depressed. Sunlight is scientifically proven to boost mood and energy. Viewers are being fed the concept that Detroit is a dark place, physically and figuratively. They can infer that staying in a place like this for too long can drive you to make decisions that are high-strung, emotional, and not well thought-out, like Eric. The truth is that he was never fully able to accept Shelley's death.
In Barbarian, Tess travels to Detroit alone for a job interview and arrives at her AirBNB during a rainy night. The cameras do not pan over to any other houses on the block and the only light in the shot is the light outside of the house she is renting for her stay. In the morning when she leaves the house for her interview, she sees the houses on the rest of block for the first time. They are all abandoned, dilapidated, and riddled with graffiti. The lawns are unkept and it is clear that it is not a safe part of town.
Tess meets her prospective employer at the lobby of a modern building in the metropolitan area of Detroit. This area is clean, renovated, and updated. While Tess is wrapping up her interview, Tess briefly mentions that she is staying in Brightmoor. When the interviewer hears this, her entire demeanor changes and it is clear that this unsettles her. She immediately warns Tess that she should not be staying there. She never explains why but viewers reference back to the scene of Tess discovering the neighborhood for the first time and it seems to be an unspoken understanding that 'people just don't go there'.
This silent and mutual understanding mirrors that of the different terrains of the city of Detroit. Residents and natives know which neighborhoods to avoid and stay away from.
Detroit Police Department corruption/abuse of power
In August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones, August uncovers a ring of corruption among the Detroit Police Department and receives a multi-million dollar payout in exchange for his badge. Although being a police officer was especially meaningful and important to him, doing the right thing was more important.
Judging by the way people treat him and talk to him and about him, many people do not agree with the way August went about things pertaining to the original case. This alludes to the attitude and mindset of natives and residents of Detroit when it comes to the regard they hold for the Detroit Police Department and their loyalty ties. Nothing is ever so bad that someone can rat them out. August is nearly ostracized for doing so.
One of the main working theories among viewers when watching Detroit 9000 was that one of the police officers was in on the jewelry theft during the fundraiser. Although the movie wraps up the investigation with the criminals being discovered and brought to justice, this was a realistic plot that viewers could really imagine happening in a place like Detroit.
Transition from the concept of calling police in an emergency to handling matters internally and the Detroit Police Department falling out of the loop on crime happening in the city
