Chief James Craig (Photo: Detroit Police Department)
Police Chief James Craig and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy are bumping heads over plea bargains.
Craig says he’s tired of his officers arresting violent criminals, only to see them cut plea deals with prosecutors that allow them back on the street, writes George Hunter of The Detroit News. Worthy says the chief should stop whining have his cops do better investigations if he wants more criminals to be convicted.
Hunter reports:
The tension between Detroit cops and Wayne County prosecutors over plea deals, which goes back decades, was rekindled July 10, when video showed Hakim Littleton firing shots at a Detroit police officer before he was killed by cops who returned fire.
Three years before the incident, Littleton was charged with armed robbery, which carries up to a life sentence, but he cut a plea deal that kept him out of prison. Littleton's case is an example of an ongoing problem, Craig said.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy"We arrest these violent criminals, but in so many cases they get a plea deal and go back on the street to commit more crimes, and then everyone blames the police if crime goes up," the police chief said.
Worthy says it's a tired old complaint.
