FLINT -- Update: June 2nd, 12:45 p.m.
Not long after NBC25 did this story, the Flint Police Department posted a youtube video on the NBC25 Facebook page. The video shows more of what police officers in the City of Flint go through on a daily basis. Check it out, and leave us your comments.
Michigan State Police troopers allowed NBC25 an exclusive first hand look at what it is like to patrol America’s most violent city.
They say Genesee County needs to make many changes to stop the trend of violence in Flint.
They say there simply are not enough police to respond to all the residents in need of help. The city over the past year has cut dozens of officers.
“You hear the radio?” asks Trooper Dan Fiebernitz. “A call came out at 9:30 p.m. and they are just dispatching a car at 1:05 a.m.”
Police in Flint are always trying to catch up. Trooper Fiebernitz is assigned to traffic patrol.
He and Trooper Brad Ross pull over a man speeding down the road. They find he has an extremely long record, including drunk driving violations. His license is suspended. In other counties, he would be lodged in jail. In Genesee County he gets a ticket.
“Thank you for being so cool,” says the man to troopers. “This could have been a lot worse.”
Little does he know, he didn’t avoid jail because these troopers are “cool”. He avoided jail because the Genesee County Jail is overcrowded.
“One time we had over 700 people in jail,” said Sheriff Robert Pickell. “It was 120 over max capacity.”
The sheriff says the jail is overcrowded almost everyday.
“One of the inspectors from the state came in and said, ‘Sheriff, you can’t have this. You have to let some of these people go.’ I said, ‘Yeah, what ones would you like me to release. You can’t just release them they’re in jail.’”
He has asked for funding to build on to the jail.
“There’s just no money.”
To keep the jail below capacity, the sheriff let a committee of judges, social workers, probation officers, and police make a list of offenses for which folks would be locked up. Those who drive drunk or are suspected of felonies and violent crimes go to jail. Many others do not.
“Without a jail that is open to all misdemeanants and all felons, you could have some severe problems,” said Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel.
The Saginaw County sheriff is grateful to voters that he has room in his jail. Voters passed a millage in early May to make sure it remains open for inmates. Saginaw County has about half the population of Genesee County, but its jail is about the same size.
“If someone is arrested for a crime in Saginaw County, they will probably be lodged.”
Michigan State Police say the available jail space has allowed them to take a zero-tolerance approach to crime, putting crime rates on the downtrend in Saginaw County.
MSP Captain Dan Atkinson says he is willing to assign two squads, a total of 10 people, to patrol the streets of Flint, but only if jail space is made available.
“We have made a difference in the City of Saginaw. We can do the same thing in the City of Flint.”
In the meantime, MSP troopers working in Genesee County say they will do the best they can to crack down on crime, but if often feels futile. They see the same criminals again and again, committing the same crimes, and each time get a ticket.
Those tickets often carry little in consequences. There are 40,000 outstanding warrants in Genesee County. Many of them are for people given an appearance ticket by police, who never show up at court.
