DETROIT (WWJ) – Wiping out the high rate of crime in Detroit – that’s the focus of “City Under Seige: A forum on Crime in Detroit.”

Some of the nation’s leading experts in law enforcement and criminology are meeting at Wayne State University today for the conference. Criminologist George Kelling co-authored “Broken Windows,” a widely used theory on reducing crime.

“Just as a broken window left untended is a sign that nobody cares and leads to more broken windows, so disorderly behavior and conditions left untended is a sign that nobody cares and leads to fear of more serious crime and urban decay,” says Kelling.

But Carl Taylor, professor of sociology at Michigan State University, says Detroit needs much more.

“We’re way beyond a broken window. Because we did not use that theory or pay a great deal of attention to it in Detroit, we have what we have now,” says Taylor.

The conference takes place Thursday, September 20 and Friday, September 21 and is free and open to the public.

A few of the speakers scheduled for the two-day event include: William J. Bratton, former top cop in Boston, New York and L.A.; Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee; Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy; and U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

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