View City of Detroit Reports. 6 Detroit officers suspended amid bribery allegations in FBI probe. Six Detroit police officers have been suspended amid a federal investigation of towing practices involving stolen cars, with a handful of the officers scrambling to find lawyers Tuesday for help in the city's latest public corruption case, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The FBI probe, sources said, involves allegations that police officers took bribes from collision shops and towing companies who paid the officers money in exchange for giving them work when they found stolen vehicles. One source said the going bribe rate in such deals is $500 — that's how much a collision shop pays a police officer who convinced the owner of a stolen car to send their car to a particular collision shop. The officers have been suspended with pay, according to Michael Woody, director of media relations for the Detroit police department. It is not known whether they will be criminally charged, he said.
►Related:Judge won't toss convictions for crooked Detroit cops. Detroit Had a Corruption Scandal in 1930s That Was Bigger Than Today's – Deadline Detroit. By DAVID ASHENFELTER The federal investigation that has produced public corruption convictions against more than two dozen Detroit officials, contractors and others is big — very big.
But contrary to what you may have heard or read, the ongoing probe that could send former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to prison for racketeering, extortion and bribery pales compared to a Detroit corruption probe that began in the late 1930s. That investigation, which became known as “the Janet McDonald affair,” involved extorting payoffs from houses of prostitution, gamblers, slot machine operators and other underworld types. It produced criminal charges and convictions against more than 150 people, including an ex-mayor, a county prosecutor and sheriff, city council members, the superintendent of police and scores of Detroit cops.
For Detroit’s New Mayor, Power, With Conditions. Detroit retirees' effort to restore pension fails. A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a challenge to cuts in Detroit pensions, saying a plan that helped bring the city out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history must not be disturbed.
“This is not a close call,” said Judge Alice Batchelder at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Some retirees sued, saying they deserve the pension that was promised before Detroit filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Thousands saw their pension cut by 4.5%; annual cost-of-living increases were eliminated. ►Related:Detroit reaches milestone in bankruptcy recovery The court noted that Detroit’s exit from bankruptcy in 2014 was the result of a series of major deals between the city and creditors, including people who receive a pension or qualify for one.
In dissent, Judge Karen Nelson Moore said retirees at least deserve their day in court. Jamie Fields, an attorney for about 160 retirees, said he wanted the court to consider the merits of his argument. Read or Share this story: Fixing Detroit’s Broken School System: Improve accountability and oversight for district and charter schools. Detroit is a classic story of a once-thriving city that has lost its employment base, its upper and middle classes, and much of its hope for the future. The city has been on a long, slow decline for decades. It’s difficult to convey the postapocalyptic nature of Detroit. Miles upon miles of abandoned houses are in piles of rot and ashes. Unemployment, violent crime, and decades of underinvestment have led to a near-complete breakdown of civic infrastructure: the roads are terrible, the police are understaffed, and there is a deeply insufficient social safety net.
There are new federal funds and private investment being directed to Detroit’s renewal. In January 2014, as part of a multicity study, researchers from the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) met with a dozen parents in Detroit to learn about their experiences with education in the city. Charlie LeDuff: From then until now: A look at Detroit's corrupt political past.
The Detroit Graduates. Detroit art caught in bankruptcy battle. (CBS News) Detroit, which became the largest city to declare bankruptcy in U.S. history Thursday, is home to one of the most prestigious collections of art in the world.
And one of the options on the table to deal with its crippling debt is for all of that to be sold. But it's not so simple. To Rod Spencer, the Detroit Institute of Arts is priceless. "The DIA is the history of Detroit, that's what it means to me," he said. Spencer has been coming at least once a month for 25 years. "Will it go to a private collection? Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, said all assets must be on the table to appease the city's creditors. Experts consulted by the Detroit Free-Press valued all the works at $2.5 billion -- around 10 percent of the city's potential long-term debt of $20 billion. Art appraiser Betty Krulik said, however, it would be challenging to sell the work quickly. "It would just flood the market," she said.
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