Councilmember Raquel Castañeda-López - "Rethink, Redirect, Reinvest in our Communities"

For too long, police have been seen as the solution for too many of Detroit's problems. The

Police Department's (DPD) $327M budget consumes nearly 30% of the general fund monies and

over the last four years their budget has increased dramatically without demonstrating a

meaningful return. Contrary to popular opinion, increasing the Police Department budget has not

translated into safer streets. While DPD's budget has ballooned by over $20M in recent years,

there has not been a corresponding decrease in violent crime. Five years ago Detroit's violent

crime rate was 20 per 1,000 residents. In 20...