Detroit police board addresses wave of gun violence

Well, now to this, at least three children and teens have been wounded or killed in a recent spike in gun violence in the city of Detroit over the past few weeks. And now some Detroiters are raising questions about safety ahead of Halloween when all the kids are going to be going out to go trick-or-treating. Scott Wolchek is following the story for us tonight. Scott, what's being done to make sure that the kids stay safe? Well, you know, they're doing a lot that they can, and they actually had a police board of commissioners meeting throughout this afternoon. And we wanted to come out to this meeting and kind of ask some of those questions. Hey, obviously, right? I mean, think about it. This 16-year-old just got killed in a drive-by shooting. You've seen all these other terrible, terrible things in this recent spike of gun violence. And it comes at a time where Detroit, they were just out there really celebrating this drop in their violent crime statistics. And then suddenly you have this where three kids or some of them were teens were wounded throughout the past couple of weeks and just a sad thing to see. Take a listen to some of the people who spoke up at the Board of Commissioners meeting, as well as what some of the commissioners had to say about a safe trick-or-treating and this rise in violence. I'm here today because I'm listening to so many people talk about these useless shootings, drive-bys, whatever, children, adults. My main concern here today is we need to make stricter guidelines, stricter penalties for these adults that are not securing these guns, for whoever's doing these shootings and killings, stricter penalties. I think enforcement is always key, but prevention is even more valuable. If there's any parents out there who are worried, oh, I saw these shootings, I'm a little worried about trick-or-treating this year, going to a big event, what would you say to them? Detroiters have always been resilient, so I tell those parents, do not worry. Look at the last few years, couple of years. It's so many activities now. We're engaged with the churches, the associations, the police. When you do trick or treat, all of those things that are happening. So it's no need to fear. Come out, be together, be neighborly, work with law enforcement. You see something, you say something, but don't live in fear at all. I think that's kind of what a lot of Detroiters have as a philosophy, right? You know, you have some of these terrible things that might happen, But it's not gonna stop you from your kid going out, having a good time and being safe, right? There's a difference between living in fear and just being smart and locking up your guns. They sell gun locks at the police station. Sure. Well, they don't sell them, they just give them out. They give them out, yeah, they're free at any sheriff's department or any police station. But Scott, you bring up a good point. This isn't just about police, this is about the community. This is about neighbors looking out for neighbors. And if you have kids out and about, making sure that the streets are safer on that big night. Yes, absolutely. And I think that, you know, you know, you grow up in a certain neighborhood. Maybe you know what doors you knock on, what ones you don't. And for parents all over the place, you know, they have those trunk or treats. In fact, my kid's got his tonight going on. He's dressing as a cow. So he's going to be a cow. He's going to be a cow. He wants daddy to be a dino. Well, I think that would be fun. And we're glad you're going to have a good Halloween. We hope the same for all the kids all over Metro Detroit and the city. Thank you so much, Scott. Thanks, everybody.