Detroit study: Keep police gang squad?

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DETROIT, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners will undertake a study to determine if the police gang squad should be retained, officials said.

The study was ordered after residents complained about a plan for the Detroit Police Department to eliminate its gang unit in an effort to put more officers in other jobs, The Detroit News reported.

Disbanding the gang operation would add 100 officers to homicide, criminal investigations and traffic squads, the report said.

But residents at a commissioners' meeting Thursday said the gang squad was a valuable resource and that gangs are a worrying problem in the city.

Residents expressed concern about the decision to break up the gang squad, citing its work during youth fights and other violent incidents.

A recommendation could be presented to city officials in the next month, the News reported.