Crime

Frustrated Detroiter Kim Trent: 'I'm At My Wit's End' About Chronic Car Thefts

August 11, 2014, 2:30 PM

The writer, who grew up in Highland Park and Detroit, is a member of Wayne State's Board of Governors and a former aide to Sen. Debbie Stabenow. This essay, adapted from a Facebook discussion she started Monday morning, is reposted with permission.    

By Kim Trent

I've experienced four car thefts and at least five attempted thefts since March.

On Sunday,  someone else's parked vehicle was stolen near our Elmwood Park co-op townhouse at 4 a.m. My neighborhood is under siege.


Kim Trent: "It's really pissing me off! They do the same thing over and over, multiple times a week."

I was impressed that when I wrote a long note earlier to Mayor Mike Duggan's office about it, a deputy police chief showed up on my porch to talk to me. But since then, nothing has happened.

Look, I'm only one of 700,000 Detroiters. It's not like I expect special treatment. But damn, for the sake of safety, car insurance rates, etc., can my neighbors and I ask for increased police presence between 4 and 7 a.m., which is almost always when these fools brazenly steal cars over here?

It's really pissing me off! They do the same thing over and over, multiple times a week and even take the damn cars to the same location for stripping.

Even if we can't have increased police presence, can we get a bait car or something? Or surveillance in front of the Detroit Housing Commission [on Orleans Street], since that's where they take them every single time. I mean, damn, do something please. This is getting ri-damn-diculous.

For most of the 29 years I've been driving a car in Detroit, my cars have gone unmolested -- until I bought this Ford Fusion. The only other time I've had a car theft was when I lived in -- wait for it -- West Village.

I kind of regret putting our leaders on blast like this, but I'm at my wit's end. I've written emails to elected officials and my story has been published on social media and in publications ranging from Deadline Detroit to The New York Times, as well as two Detroit Free Press columns My wheel can't get much squeaker! Fix it!

One thing I will say about Duggan -- like him or hate him -- is that he has earned a reputation for being a creative problem-solver. So I have more confidence that he will pay attention. Kevyn Orr is a bankruptcy attorney who was hired to make Wall Street whole and hasn't demonstrated to me at all that he understands or cares about city operations beyond what they mean to the bottom line.

Excuse all the damns, but I've been holding this rant in for a while.

Earlier at Deadline Detroit:

2 Car Thefts Push WSU Board Member Kim Trent Closer To Leaving ‘My Beloved City’, March 22


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