To be determined...

thedailywhat:

To Serve And Protect During Business Hours of the Day: Despite being declared America’s Most Dangerous City by Forbes magazine for having the highest violent-crime rate in the country, Detroit will no longer make its police department precincts and districts available to the public after 4 PM due to budget cuts.

The Detroit Police Department announced yesterday that all eight precinct and district stations will shut down for the day at 4 PM, reopening at 8 AM the following morning.

In addition, many positions, including vehicle and building maintenance, law enforcement information network operation, and other “desk jobs” will be cut in order to move officers from the precincts to the streets.

“I think it’s going to work,” said Detroit police Cmdr. Steve Dolunt. “I think it’ll get the officers more involved [with citizens].”

Some 100 officers will be laid off in order to allow the department to receive federal grant money. There are 3,000 officers currently on the payroll.

Replacing public access will be “virtual precincts” — online tools the department says will help citizens get the help they need. “This is insanity. This is preposterous,” said Minister Malik Shabazz, a community activist.

“I think the public really rely on them a lot,” said Joseph Stokes Jr., who lost a son to gun violence in Detroit. “They have nowhere else to go to, they have nowhere else to turn to, especially when something happens to them.”

[freep / tribune.]

UPDATE: Alex Ogle tips us to this frightening companion video to the post above: A story filed by a straight-shooting Fox 2 reporter about a broken-down Detroit ambulance stranded in the line of gunfire.