Lots of crime-fighting theater and little to show for it.
On Nov. 15, 2013, Detroit’s fifth police chief in as many years stood outside a public housing complex on East Jefferson Avenue where more than 150 law enforcement officers gathered for a large-scale raid. The address of the complex was called the “most problematic” in the city, and the raid, code named Operation Clean Sweep, was aimed at curtailing violence there.
With an impromptu headquarters set up in the barren lobby of the Colony Arms complex on the city’s east side, the team of SWAT officers in bulletproof vests headed inside and began busting in doors with firearms drawn. A helicopter hovered overhead. Federal agents joined police officers in the warrant sweep, a spectacle tailor-made for the 5 o’clock news.