Fewest cops are patrolling Detroit streets since 1920s

Detroit — There are fewer police officers patrolling the city than at any time since the 1920s, a manpower shortage that sometimes leaves precincts with only one squad car, posing what some say is a danger to cops and residents.

Detroit has lost nearly half its patrol officers since 2000; ranks have shrunk by 37 percent in the past three years, as officers retired or bolted for other police departments amid the city's bankruptcy and cuts to pay and benefits.

Left behind are 1,590 officers — the lowest since Detroit beefed up its police force to battle Prohibition bootleggers.

"This is a crisis, and the dam is going to break," said Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association. "It's a Catch-22: I know the city is broke, but we're not going to be able to build up a tax base of residents and businesses until we can provide a safe environment for them."

Police Chief James Craig acknowledges he doesn't have as many officers as he'd like.

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