American Cops Doing What They Do Best

I'm sure suburban Detroit and most of Michigan is alright, but you can't be serious about inner city Detroit. Isn't the crime rate in some neighbourhoods something ridiculous like 1 in 7? That's Juarez numbers.

Suburban Detroit is far better than alright, it has some of the nicest communities in the country. I am indeed talking about Detroit itself. People (not saying you) the idea that it's just a concrete jungle with guns being shot off all the time and drug deals happening in open sight. That's really not the case. Families manage to live every day in those areas without personally experiencing violence. So any out of town person with basic street smarts can be quite safe for an hour or a day or a week.
 
Suburban Detroit is far better than alright, it has some of the nicest communities in the country. I am indeed talking about Detroit itself. People (not saying you) the idea that it's just a concrete jungle with guns being shot off all the time and drug deals happening in open sight. That's really not the case. Families manage to live every day in those areas without personally experiencing violence. So any out of town person with basic street smarts can be quite safe for an hour or a day or a week.

I'm sure the city functions normally, as does pretty much any major metropolis within the western hemisphere. Its just the crime statistics which have been frightening (though I assume its mostly gang related stuff).

Don't you live in Detroit, or are you one of those Bloomfield hills one percenters that reps the inner city from your fortified community :p
 
While I don't agree with the rioters, the media are spinning the story and manipulating some of the images to make them look different to their original purpose.

Plus there's plenty of peaceful protesters who aren't getting any media attention.
 
I'm sure the city functions normally, as does pretty much any major metropolis within the western hemisphere. Its just the crime statistics which have been frightening (though I assume its mostly gang related stuff).

Don't you live in Detroit, or are you one of those Bloomfield hills one percenters that reps the inner city from your fortified community :p

Neither. I live in what was once a cottage town before urban sprawl made it a suburb. Bloomfield hills isn't all that fortified without as much traffic as the Woodward corridor. Troy and Pontiac are right there. Bloomfield hills is home to Cranbrook, Mitt Romney's school. So yes it is mostly full of awful one percenters.
 
Off to visit my girlfriend in America tomorrow. Haven't seen her in January so I'm delighted.

Oh no, wait, she lives in Baltimore.

feck it.

Seriously mixed feelings :lol:
 
I've been to some of the most war-torn, impoverished and desperate places on the planet, and yet I'd still never visit Bmore.

I had a nice evening there a few weeks ago. The old harbour distric is lovely. I had to drive through the equivalent of Baghdad to get there though.
 
You'll be fine. Just use common sense.
Yeah I'll be grand. She was supposed to have a sorority 'formal' in the city centre Friday night, but because of the curfew that's been moved to nearer the university, thankfully.
 
I had a nice evening there a few weeks ago. The old harbour distric is lovely. I had to drive through the equivalent of Baghdad to get there though.

I've actually driven through Baghdad and I still wouldn't do Bmore.

I'm probably just being a bit of a nancy though, The Wire rarely helped.
 
Suburban Detroit is far better than alright, it has some of the nicest communities in the country. I am indeed talking about Detroit itself. People (not saying you) the idea that it's just a concrete jungle with guns being shot off all the time and drug deals happening in open sight. That's really not the case. Families manage to live every day in those areas without personally experiencing violence. So any out of town person with basic street smarts can be quite safe for an hour or a day or a week.

Not contradicting your point here. I will say that most crime in ghetto areas is targeted towards people "in the game", so to speak.
 
I've actually driven through Baghdad and I still wouldn't do Bmore.

I'm probably just being a bit of a nancy though, The Wire rarely helped.

I drove right by the downtown jail. Some real characters hanging around outside.
 
Off to visit my girlfriend in America tomorrow. Haven't seen her in January so I'm delighted.

Oh no, wait, she lives in Baltimore.

feck it.

Seriously mixed feelings :lol:
Just loudly whistle Farmer In The Dell whilst walking around, you'll be fine.
 
Still feeling that most of the people rioting and looting care very little about the issue they are supposedly angry about. When you see inside a couple of pharmacies how specific the looting of the drugs were, you really doubt that the people involved were doing anything other than just taking advantage of a situation. It's all about what can they get for themselves, how can they make some money.

Those truly concerned are involved in the peaceful protests.
 
Still feeling that most of the people rioting and looting care very little about the issue they are supposedly angry about. When you see inside a couple of pharmacies how specific the looting of the drugs were, you really doubt that the people involved were doing anything other than just taking advantage of a situation. It's all about what can they get for themselves, how can they make some money.

Those truly concerned are involved in the peaceful protests.
Generally the way these things go.

Same when it happened over here a few years ago - you ask the people in the middle of it why they're doing what they're doing and they almost certainly couldn't tell you, especially when it spread beyond London, it was just an excuse to go and act like a scumbag.
 
Off to visit my girlfriend in America tomorrow. Haven't seen her in January so I'm delighted.

Oh no, wait, she lives in Baltimore.

feck it.

Seriously mixed feelings :lol:

Look at the positives, shopping is out of the equation so you can save some coin or just break the window at a local Target and fill your carts.
 
A bit like disguising oneself as a mohawk and throwing perfectly good tea into the harbour.
Set the world record for largest cup of tea though didn't they. Though the tea party was still about the cause not stealing tea for their own benefit. So it really doesn't fit in here
 
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I had a nice evening there a few weeks ago. The old harbour distric is lovely. I had to drive through the equivalent of Baghdad to get there though.

Ah good, there you are. I will always love Baltimore but after pointing you there, I did worry a bit. Glad you liked it. Certainly not the sort of place to get lost.

Getting into the neighborhoods that have the old blood and loyalty will win you some of the finest little bars you could find. Better yet to wind your way to drinks in a union hall, VFW, lodge, or a church basement. Grand.

The bad bits though really are full on C.H.U.D. though. The worst I've seen.
 
Wasn't there rioting by the harbor?
It's really not that bad. Neither is Detroit or flint or whatever.
I've heard some very odd descriptions of Baltimore. Today I heard something like beautiful city. Are there 2 Baltimores? I'm not a fan of most US cities, but having worked in Baltimore for a few years I just see nothing good about it. Chat shows this morning discussed areas destroyed in 60s riots still left as they were. That's the reality I saw. A few very small areas with shiny new buildings (Inner Harbor, Hopkins and ball parks) for people who can afford it. Certainly not the locals I drove by every morning on their way to work, probably making next to nothing, or those poor souls hanging out on the streets with no prospects. I've actually had nightmares about the kids I saw, blocks from where I worked, walking to their so-called schools surrounded by condemned housing.
 
Ah good, there you are. I will always love Baltimore but after pointing you there, I did worry a bit. Glad you liked it. Certainly not the sort of place to get lost.

Getting into the neighborhoods that have the old blood and loyalty will win you some of the finest little bars you could find. Better yet to wind your way to drinks in a union hall, VFW, lodge, or a church basement. Grand.

The bad bits though really are full on C.H.U.D. though. The worst I've seen.


I loved the old part. It was just like being back in England. Wish I'd had more time than just one evening.
 
Hey, there´s Ladonna, Delonda, Shaquuena as one of the more than 3,000 volunteers cleaning up Baltimore. I bet Jeff and Bill and Frank and Nancy and Mary approve

2904_baltimoreclean_a.ashx
 
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Suburban Detroit is far better than alright, it has some of the nicest communities in the country. I am indeed talking about Detroit itself. People (not saying you) the idea that it's just a concrete jungle with guns being shot off all the time and drug deals happening in open sight. That's really not the case. Families manage to live every day in those areas without personally experiencing violence. So any out of town person with basic street smarts can be quite safe for an hour or a day or a week.

I fueled up in a sketchy part of Detroit a couple of years ago. My Canadian credit card didn't work at the pump but the station attendant let me fill up before paying, which was pretty nice. Nobody tried to jack my ride or stick me up but that might have been thanks to the Wu Tang Clan t-shirt. I did see a dead dog on the freeway, though.
 
I fueled up in a sketchy part of Detroit a couple of years ago. My Canadian credit card didn't work at the pump but the station attendant let me fill up before paying, which was pretty nice. Nobody tried to jack my ride or stick me up but that might have been thanks to the Wu Tang Clan t-shirt. I did see a dead dog on the freeway, though.

Why did you stop in Detroit? Most people just pass through.
 
I fueled up in a sketchy part of Detroit a couple of years ago. My Canadian credit card didn't work at the pump but the station attendant let me fill up before paying, which was pretty nice. Nobody tried to jack my ride or stick me up but that might have been thanks to the Wu Tang Clan t-shirt. I did see a dead dog on the freeway, though.

Can you keep your people on your side of the border, please? At lunch, I saw this Quebecois lady changing her baby's diaper on a table in Subway. There was whole pile of them speaking French and dudes wearing capri pants.