Detroit Police Capt. Aric Tosqui urged business owners in Corktown at community meeting Monday to report crimes against customers.
"We need to make sure we're reporting crimes," he said to the crowd, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press."If you're a business owner and a crime happens to your customers, I'm asking you to report it. We find a significant amount of under-reported crime. We want to make sure that this is the worst environment for a criminal to be in."
Katrease Stafford of the Freep writes that residents and business owners in Corktown gathered to hear more about new safety measures Detroit Police have rolled out in response to a recent rash of car thefts and larcenies in the area.
Capt. Tosqui said four cars were stolen on a Saturday night in Corktown in early March.
"Clearly four is too many," he said, according to the Freep.. "At that time, we had a Garth Brooks concert and Monster Jam going on ... But I don't necessarily think those things were event driven. We think it's probably the same people, but without video surveillance we can't be sure."
According to the Freep: Tosqui said overall:
"Without a doubt, Corktown is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. We had had some attention recently due to break-ins and vehicle thefts, but if you look at the overall history, it's safe."
But while noting that the area has experienced a 35 percent reduction in larcenies since last year, it has seen a spike in stolen vehicles, the Freep reports.
He said that's an indication that still more needs to be done.
Following the weekend car thefts in early March, Police Chief James Craig announced a new strategy to deal with the situation. He also announced a pilot program during peak hours in Corktown, Midtown and downtown in which a roaming mobile desk operation which will allow a patrol car to come to the scene of a car theft or break-in and take a report, rather than have a victim find a ride to a precinct to file a report.
