Rebirth
The start of something new.
White male, age 17-26, unstable childhood; often one or both parents missing from home, abuse or neglect by parents, childhood hyperactivity disorder, poor academic performance, antisocial behaviors and other crimes as an adolescent, fascination with the fire service, alcoholism and/or substance abuse, and mental Illness: personality disorders, depression, schizophrenia, suicidal tendencies. This is an overall profile given to an arsonist from the previously mentioned, Pamela Kulbrash. Based on a profile like this, it makes sense that Detroit has such a high arson rate. All of these topics within Detroit have something to do with each other and it starts with a poor budget.
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Part of Detroit's issue with crime, especially arson, is that budget cuts and lack of residents to pay for that budget has put a weight on the mayors shoulders. The problem lies as so: if we cut budgets, we do not have enough services. If we do not, we can not afford these services. In 2013, as told by Huffington post, Mayor Dave Bing reduced the fire department’s $184 million budget by 20 percent, furthering the decrease in available fire fighters. We have seen a huge downgrade in all aspects since 2009. Since then, when there were over 20 arson investigators, Detroit has lost more than half which puts it at 10 investigators today. As shown by the chart, Detroit has the most fires per 1,000 residents of all major cities. For such a high ratio of citizens to fires, the number of arson investigators is at the lowest of them all. This is how many fires go unsolved and therefore, the arsonists go free. What is a crime if there are no consequences?
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After many years of fighting not only fires but the arsonists behind them, Detroit officials decided they needed to do something about it. As told by Logan Hansen of MLive.com, established in the 90s was Angel's night. Starting as just a name for the night of October 30th, which is the night before Devil's night, it was meant to be a peaceful "act" before the violent night after. Later, it turned into a community uproar. Thousands of citizens joined together with the police force to watch abandoned houses during the night and report any suspicious activity. Starting a few years ago, more restrictions were put in place. For three days before Halloween, gas was prohibited from sale in a portable container. In addition, earlier curfews were set in place for anyone under the age of 18, with threats of arrest or fines if caught out without verification that the teen was out due to school or work. Amazingly, angel's night has already given a lot of hope to Detroit as back in 1984 there were 810 reported fires while in 2015 there were just 52 over the course of the three nights before and during Halloween. This shows that in order to fix a community, it takes a community. Hope for Detroit definitely still exists.
For more information on Angel's night and how you can help, click here! |
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