Detroit Police Chief Sees Lower Crime Rate, Praises Officer Morale, New Cars

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit's Police Chief James Craig said the latest FBI crime report shows there has been a downward trend in violent crime, helping him toward the goal he announced when he took over the job three months ago.

"This is an opportunity, we're going up," Craig said.  "If you notice the crime, right now, we're trending downward.  We're sitting at about a 5 percent reduction in overall part one crime.  We set a goal of a 5 percent reduction.  We are accomplishing that.  We're sitting at a 12 percent reduction of homicide here today."

As for the rest of the officers that Craig is leading, he said that they seem to be more confident these days.

"From what I'm hearing they see the bright light; they see a light flickering of hope," Craig said.  "They're tired of instability.  They're tired of not knowing what tomorrow will bring. They want stable leadership....and I'm committed to give them that.  I'm committed to support them and the leadership team that we assemble over the next weeks have to adopt that and embrace the notion that cops count."

And it isn't just officer morale that Craig notices.

He even said cops are feeling good about the new police cruisers they get to drive in.

"Best looking police car -- right here in Detroit," Craig said.