DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Detroit may be the Motor City, but lately it’s running on empty when it comes to public safety. From car theft victims stuck in paperwork purgatory to neighborhoods rattled by gunfire, crime has become the pothole no politician wants to own.

Former federal law enforcement officer, ex-U.S. Representative, and now GOP Senate candidate in Michigan, Mike Rogers, says it’s time to call in reinforcements – including, if necessary, the National Guard. Speaking to Breitbart News, Rogers relayed a past conversation, telling the media outlet, “What I basically said was, ‘Hey, Mr. Mayor (Mike Duggan), pick up the phone and call the president and request some backup. We’re the second most violent city in the country, behind Memphis.’”

Detroit’s decline or Detroit’s denial?

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Duggan, now running as an independent after shedding the Democratic label, is seeking Michigan’s governorship while, according to Rogers, downplaying the crime statistics in the city he currently leads. Duggan and other critics argue that there’s been a decrease in violent crime since the pandemic-era peak. Michigan Advance cites numbers that show Detroit recording a 19% decline in homicides in 2024, dropping from 252 in 2023 to 203 – the lowest level in more than five decades. They also say that nonfatal shootings also fell 25%, from 804 to 606 year-over-year.

But according to Rogers, information provided by the FBI which includes information given from Detroit, shows that Detroit is about 536% higher on aggravated assault, 580 percent higher than the national average for murder, 180 percent for rape, 240 percent higher for robbery.

Detroit’s crime crisis isn’t just about statistics though or debates over how they’re spun – it’s about the crimes happening on the ground and the victims being left behind. Rogers argues the city’s real crime numbers are being hidden from the public saying, “There’s a lot of neighborhoods in Detroit that just aren’t safe to be in, and it’s not fair to the people who are playing by the rules. You know, just because you’re poor or at the lower middle class does not mean you have to put up with crime in this way, at least in my mind.”

National Guard for thee, but not for me?

Rogers also called out Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), who is also running to be Michigan’s next senator too, for what he labeled hypocrisy: back in 2016 she demanded the National Guard be sent into Chicago after more than 60 people were shot over Independence Day weekend, yet now she insists Rogers is “wrong” for suggesting the same solution for Detroit.

Additionally, State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), also running for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, condemned Rogers call for the National Guard and has referred to her own statement last year

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where she said about Trump, “As a proud elected representative of tens of thousands of Detroiters: F*ck this guy. Don’t come back.” She made the social media post after Trump said “The whole country will be like Detroit if Kamala Harris is your president” talking about having a “mess on your hands.”

Police admit nonviolent crime often gets ignored.

Heather Beatham and her fiancé Jacob Roderick told the Detroit News that they didn’t hear from detectives about their stolen Dodge Durango until the press intervened. Roderick said, “People should know if they go into Detroit and their car gets stolen, nothing will be done about it. We used to come down to Detroit all the time for baseball games, concerts. No more…”

Detroit Police Commissioner Ricardo Moore, a retired Detroit police lieutenant, admits to hearing similar complaints “all the time” and blames limited detectives who are stretched thin even though most of the previous staffing shortages have reportedly been resolved.

Because the Detroit Police have their hands full battling violent crime, Detroit residents say police often ignore nonviolent crimes like auto theft and break-ins, leaving victims feeling abandoned and defenseless with their crimes treated as minor nuisances instead of serious offenses.

When the streets belong to criminals, communities pay the price.

No matter where people stand politically, most agree that Detroit’s residents deserve real action – not talking points. The reality is that crime is seeping into nearly every part of daily life in the Motor City, whether at work or at play.

In a statement on Rogers’ campaign website, he says, “The numbers don’t lie: Detroit has become a hub for violent crime. And these aren’t just statistics – they’re people and families, whose lives have been flipped upside down because they aren’t even safe in their own community anymore. We have got to make our cities safe again.”

There are many like Rogers who think that if the local leadership can’t handle fighting crime, then it’s time to bring in those who can – with extra manpower, resources, and maybe even the Guard – because when criminals feel like they own the streets, ordinary people lose, and many Detroiters has lost enough already.