Monday November 2, the Detroit Fire Departments said the number of fires set over the weekend was down by 12% compared to last year. Devil’s night in Detroit has become known around the world for its senseless destruction. But as Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports, a new trend could be emerging.
Yes the ambulances were rushing sick and wounded to the hospital. They sped along Grand River Avenue west of the Southfield Freeway. But they had no apparent connection to devil’s night. Yes the police helicopters whirred overhead. Non Detroiters might have been scared. But Detroiters themselves welcomed the sounds and the lights.
“you been out patrolling tonight? Yep. Anything happening? No. Quiet peaceful. I prayed about it. I said God let’s just have peace and love.”
Pastor L.A. Porche founded a non-profit group: Hip Hop House of God. His video on YouTube says he used to vandalize houses. Then he started buying houses, fixing them up and making thousands of dollars. So he’s got street cred. And he stands 6 foot 4. But how can he stop people from lighting fires on devil’s night?
“Once they see you they run. So it’s a no brainer. No criminal wants attention. They like to stay low profile and undetected. They know they’re committing felonies if they do anything like that. As soon as they see a physical presence they just take off. They don’t just keep going and say hey what are you doing here? I’m trying to start a fire. You know it doesn’t work like that. Having people around and cars and attention kills all that.”
Northwest Neighborhood City Hall was the base of patrol operations. Several candidates came who hope to be elected to city council tomorrow. Gary Brown, Charles Pugh and former police spokeman James Tate who says he’ll prevent kids having the same experiences he did.
“You could see the sky lighting up. Right down the street from where you were. It was very scary for me as a young kid. Not knowing how to deal with it. I feared that they may be coming to my house and burning it up.”
Devil’s night began in Detroit in the 1930′s. Eggs, soap and toilet paper were the main weapons. But by 1984, 800 homes were destroyed over the 3 day weekend. By 1996 then Mayor Dennis Archer had renamed Devil’s Night Angel’s Night. Olivia Shakur is president of her block club. She’s been around for the bad and good.
“We haven’t found anything tonight. It’s been real quiet. Very quiet.”
The community activists and volunteers like Shakur numbered at least 30,000. Amongst their ranks is former Detroit News columnist Luther Keith who chatted with Mayor Dave Bing.
Bing said he’d stay up all night and Luther Keith got in his SUV, put a yellow flashing light on his roof and went on patrol. Rain drizzled. Trouble absent from the streets. But it’s been there before. One story cinder block homes are dark and empty. The edges of doors and windows are charred. Debri is scattered inside.
“On one hand on a night like this you’re saying it’s great I’m not seeing any fires at all. But on the other hand you’re saying wow. Look at the deterioration in this neighborhood. What can we do? We’ve got such a ways to go to get this thing right.”
Luther Keith says he could have made more money doing PR for a big company or agency. But he says he became an activist because he needs meaningful work.
“Just like fighting the war in Iraq or Afghanistan there comes a point where you’re fighting a war like that that all the policy in the world don’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t have some troops on the ground to get the work done.”
It might be as basic as this: Detroit needs bodies. Any live ones on the right side of the law will do.
Audio MP3: Devils can become angels
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