So That "Disgraceful" Belle Isle Policing Is Having A Positive Effect

It's been so effective that Detroit police are setting up a parks detachment to watch other Detroit parks as the thugs leave Belle Isle due to the enforcement of law there and look elsewhere to commit crimes.

The Detroit News: Police boost patrols at other city parks with Belle Isle under state watch

In other words, it's working and the State Police and DNR officers are doing such a good job enforcing the law that the hoodlums are taking their trade elsewhere as a result.

With state officers strictly patrolling Belle Isle, Detroit police are concerned troublemakers who once flocked to the island during warm weather will seek other parks in which to drive drunk, use drugs and blast music.

This summer, Detroit police will beef up patrols in the city’s parks, with an emphasis on those on the east side near Belle Isle, Assistant Chief Steve Dolunt said.

“Everyone knows the state police and DNR are cracking down on Belle Isle, and we’re afraid some people will just find other places to cause trouble,” Dolunt said. “That’s why (Police Chief James Craig) started a new park detail: To get out in front of this before it becomes a problem.”

So if you enforce the law, and have an actual effective police presence, it encourages criminals to go elsewhere and not commit crimes in those areas? Whooda thunk it!

I daresay apologies are owed to the MSP and DNR by Councilwoman Brenda Jones (of the disgrace quote fame), City Clerk Janice Winfrey, and Ron Scott (Of the Detroit Criminals Rights Above Police group, oh sorry his falsely named Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality group, but he and his group are CRAP all the same).

The Usual Suspects Show Up At Belle Isle Protest

All 20 of them.

Not much of a turnout to support the thugs, druggies and scum otherwise interfering with decent people enjoying the island, but hey, it's an election year and community organizers gotta organize and Democrat electoral hopefuls gotta play to their base.

The Detroit Free Press: 20 protest policing policy at Belle Isle

From The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, running for congress against John Conyers, who is not on the ballot due to some Democrat shenanigans, we get not a dog-whistle, but a full on blast horn:

The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, who is running for Congress against U.S. Rep. John Conyers, was also at the rally and said “there’s been a history of whose island is this,” pointing to the 1943 Detroit Race Riot that began on the island. “There’s been an inordinate number of people arrested on the island, and that’s by design,” he said.

Yep, not very subtle, but it's an election year.

The protest then descended into farce when

Ron Scott of the Coalition Against Police Brutality said activists plan to launch what he called “freedom rides” in coming weeks on parts of the island. He said part of what he and others want to accomplish by engaging authorities now is to head off potential negative confrontations before larger numbers of young men start hanging out on the island with their friends this summer.

Seriously, He went there. He's comparing the freedom rides for civil rights in the 60s where real civil rights were at stake versus the enforcement of law on Belle Isle today, where people are being stopped for things like speeding, doing drugs and committing serious crimes?

One of these things is just not like the other.

Methinks the Coalition Against Police Brutality is running out of actual cause celebres and is now fishing for relevance and an opportunity for Scott to get his face and name in the news before he fades into irrelevance.

The Usual Detroiters To Protest Police Actually Enforcing The Law On Belle Isle

In a move that surprised the heck out of the typical lawless Detroiter used to Belle Isle as an unsafe, law-free zone, the Michigan State Police and the DNR are actually - gasp - enforcing the law on the islands.

Those really hard to understand laws like obeying posted speed limits.

These usual suspects aren't happy about it.

The Detroit Free Press: Groups plan Belle Isle rally tonight to protest 'aggressive treatment of citizens'

Groups are planning a rally tonight on Belle Isle in response to concerns raised by Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones and City Clerk Janice Winfrey about police enforcement on the island park since the state took over management there in February.

Ron Scott, a spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, said in a news release that groups including Bike Riders United, Grown Men on Bikes, the National Lawyers Guild and unnamed state and local officials will be on hand during the rally set for 6 p.m. at the park’s Giant Slide.

I guess they chose the spot to reinforce their demand that police should let lawless behavior slide.

Even Detroit City Councillors, who should be leading by example and encouraging the ne'er do wells of Detroit to follow the law and improve the reputation of the city and its residents, are getting in on the fun for some publicity and to play to their lawless base.

[Detroit City Council President] Jones had called the state’s enforcement efforts on the island “a disgrace,” and [Detroit City Clerk] Winfrey complained about what she considered to be insulting treatment while being stopped for doing 35 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone on Good Friday, according to previous Free Press reports.

A Quick tip: Don't be speeding 10 mph over in a park.

Further quick tip: Michigan State Police and DNR are actually enforcing the law and they're getting results:

The DNR reported on Tuesday that fewer than 200 people were arrested on Belle Isle from Feb. 1 to March 31. A biweekly field report in late March showed arrests were made for outstanding warrants, marijuana possession, a concealed weapon and open intoxicants. Others have been cited for violating park closing times, driving through stop signs or having dogs with no leash.

The agency reported about 80 tickets for breaking traffic and park rules through April 27 and about 360 verbal warnings in that time.

Don't like it, don't go to Belle Isle, which will result in the park being much nicer for the law-abiding and decent folk that would visit.

That the criminals and their supporters are complaining that Belle Isle is no longer a preserve for them is one thing, for City Councillors and other public officials to do so is pathetic.

With No Help From Detroit's City Council, Belle Isle May Be Saved After All

Belle Isle may finally get out from under its decades of neglect and underfunding due to the misrule of Detroit City Council of this "jewel" of the city.

The Detroit Free Press: Rochelle Riley: Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr committed to Belle Isle as state park

The plan seems to be just about the same plan the City Council had rejected prior to the bankruptcy and appointment of the EFM.

In other words, getting Belle Isle out from under the thumb of these idiots is long past due,

Of course, Detroit City Council President Pro-Tem Saunteel Jenkins (D-Idiot, standing in after the former President of the Council, D-Pedophile resigned in disgrace) had this to say about the deal:

“We need to make sure the rules at Belle Isle make sense for a large urban park because those that need that park and the people frequenting the park will be different than those at other state parks,” she said.

Wow. Just imagine, if you can, a white politician saying that about the people currently frequenting the park and its current use.

De Rot Of Detroit

Detroit City Council and the denizens of Detroit never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

The City Council decided to reject the state's offer to lease Belle Isle, an offer saving the City over $6 million per year and preserving and upgrading the island. Of course the Council did so without overtly rejecting it by tabling any discussion on the matter, which amounts to the same result.

The Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council has more hurdles for Belle Isle lease deal

The city is trying to con the state into: reducing the amount of years of the lease; allow the city to cancel the lease early (once the state makes the repairs and investments in the park naturally;) and to get out of having to pay back any funds the State invests if Detroit unilaterally pulls out early.

In short, the Detroit City Council is trying to bluff and make the state the sucker in the game even as the State holds all the cards.

The Freep also has some of the rather typical inane comments that were made at the meeting that we've come to expect from Detroiters. The race card was played so many times its got creases, folds, and torn edges.

The State has said the deal needs to be made by the end of January, so the City Council is killing the deal by tabling it for two weeks.

Gov. Snyder and the State should call Detroit's bluff and walk away from the deal. Enough already.

Have Detroit either declare bankruptcy or rot, but it is well past time for the State to walk away from the Detroit Mayor and City Council's game of three-card monte.

A Dying Detroit Refuses To be "Imposed" Upon

Detroit continues to try and reject the life ring thrown to it, insisting they’ll do it themselves because they can’t stand the though of a life ring being imposed on them even as they’re drowning in red ink. However, they’ll still gladly accept the state’s money as long as it is sent without conditions.

The Detroit News: Bing blasts state for imposing its plans on Detroit

Speaking before the NAACP, Bing blasted a State Plan for the State to lease Belle Isle and make it become part of the state parks system, not to mention levy an entry fee on visitors to pay for its upkeep and improve it.

Saying he doesn't want help "imposed" by Lansing, Mayor Dave Bing on Tuesday said he cannot support the state's proposal to lease Belle Isle for 99 years, and that he will seek a plan to improve the iconic park that's more favorable to the city.

Speaking at a packed Detroit NAACP headquarters in Midtown, Bing said he received a letter from the state two weeks ago asking for those terms "without telling me what they're going to invest and upgrade in Belle Isle."

Bing then went on to state:

"I have never in my 46 years in this city seen a governor of the state of Michigan involved in city politics like this one," Bing said. "I'm not opposed to getting help. But it's the kind of help that we need, not the kind of help that's going to be imposed on us."

The rest of us in the state haven’t seen a City quite as messed up as Detroit, nor as much silly politics and grandstanding as the city crumbles since the Emperor Nero allegedly worked on his musical talents as Rome was engulfed in flames.

"My position as of yesterday in a meeting is no, you're not (coming in to do demolitions), because this is our city," Bing told the audience about conversations with Snyder's staff. "You can't come in here and think you can do any damn thing that you want.

"There's a process that's already in place. You've got to use city departments for permits, for licensing, moving and equipment."

The mayor cited the state's offer of funding to tear down abandoned buildings: "I want your $10 million, but you're not going to take the lead on this."

And that’s the crux of the matter right there.

Send Detroit money, get some palms greased as portions of the funding get siphoned off through the city departments for processing and don’t expect any accountability or action in return. In other words, Detroit (lack of) business as usual.

Bing then ended his presentation by channeling Obama:

"I'm not here to lay blame and point fingers at anybody, but the reality is this: I inherited a mess," he said.

True Mayor Bing, you did inherit a mess, one that is indeed comparatively worse than the one Obama “inherited”. However the Mayor, just like Obama, is busy being obstructive, playing to his base, and making it worse rather than better.

Snyder has to be kicking himself for having gotten suckered into a consent agreement that will continue this ridiculous obstructionism and political posturing and bluffing. Instead he should have appointed an EFM to prevent just this kind of standard graft, delay and racial politics from preventing anything from being done. Either that, or he should have stood back and, because its their city and they reject having the state impose anything on them, let them suffer the consequences of their mismanagement and watch them file bankruptcy.

Belle Isle Blues

Another "Jewel" of Detroit is in the news again: Belle Isle's two faces: Island jewel, lawless landmark

Quite simply the island is a very pretty patch of parkland and greenery connected by a bridge to the City of Detroit and that is where the problems lies. During the day its apparently relatively safe and a nice spot to visit, but at night the hood rats come out to play.

Chess boards and folding tables are replaced by SUVs with open hatches that function as impromptu speakeasies with loud sound systems, the clothing becomes a little more revealing, the scent of marijuana sometimes fills the air and the easy crawl of traffic morphs into custom-car gridlock with occasional halts for drag racing.

....

That's about the same time Sakina Ali, 18, and her girlfriends arrived. "It's really all about the boys," sad Ali, who lives on the east side of Detroit. "There really is nowhere else to go in this town."

Ali's car was nearly sandwiched between two beefed-up vehicles vibrating from the pulse of the sub-woofers and the traffic.

"Hmm, he looks good," said her friend Carla Davis, 19. "Maybe I can find someone decent."

Ah, the cultural mores of homo Detroitus. A quick clue -- if you're looking for someone "decent" then the contents of two stereo-blasting vehicles in a parking lot in the dark probably is not the ideal spot for a meet-n-greet.

Sounds like a place you want to take your kids to and enjoy the evening right?

We want this to remain a city jewel," said Alicia C. Minter, the city's recreation director.

She described the island as "not dangerous ...but dicey" and said the uptick in attention is to "make it inviting for everyone."

Of course, the City could cut down on some of this diceness and raise money for the upkeep of Belle Isle at the same time by charging a de minimis toll fee to travel on the bridge, say $2 a car or $1 per occupant, which would probably cut down on people coming in to goof around and you'll probably keep the decent folks coming. Of course every time htis is proposed its shouted down, folowed by worries that Belle Isle is starved of funds and the city can't afford to run it.

Instead of the toll, they're thinking of posting some signs:

The group is working to install signs, such as those that list park rules.

"If people just knew what was allowed and what was not, it could make a difference," she said.

Ok, if your visitors are so clueless to not understand and already know that rowdy behavior, public drunkeness and marijuana use along with drag racing is not allowed, the signs really aren't going to help much.