Urban News

(DETROIT) -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has announced that Detroit will form a partnership with the U.S. Justice Department to try to clean up the police department and avoid a court order to get it done.

Kilpatrick and Police Chief Jerry Oliver said that city and federal officials will work on such troubling issues as use of force, prisoner care, arrest policies, discipline and training, the Detroit Free Press reported. If the team effort falls short, the Justice Department could seek a court order forcing change in the police department -- which the paper said could be costly to the city and result in loss of local control of the police department.

"We believe the previous administration had no confidence that they could actually cure this problem and deal with it locally," Kilpatrick said. "We believe just the opposite. We are engaged in revolutionary change in our police department."

The Justice Department has been investigation civil rights complaints involving Detroit police since December 2000, when then-Mayor Dennis Archer asked for the probe into allegations of excessive use of force, fatal shootings and mistreatment of prisoners. Greg Bowens, Archer's former spokesman, told the paper Kilpatrick's comment about previous administrations was inappropriate.

"I don't think in any city in America, you will find a mayor and a police chief who beg for a consent decree," said Bowens. "The mood at the time was that there was enough outcry from the community and enough going on that it only made sense to ask the Department of Justice to come in and bring resources to the table."

(AKRON, Ohio) -- The Akron police department is stepping up its crime prevention efforts, according to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The paper said that police officials have decided to spend more time working with homeowners and merchants developing crime prevention programs, rather than respond repeatedly to the same locations for robbery, shoplifting, neighbor disputes and other routine police calls. As part of the campaign, officers will attend community meetings and be more visible in neighborhoods.

The paper said the changes were made in response to a two-year study by a consultant, which was funded by federal grants. There are also plans to improve efficiency at police headquarters.

(NEW ORELANS) -- The agency that seizes and resells derelict housing in New Orleans has stopped taking applications from prospective buyers for the properties because the agency has a big backlog of cases and a shortage of operating funds.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that officials do not know when the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) will be able to start taking applications again. Lisa Mazique, executive director of the agency, plans to meet with Alberta Pate, Mayor Ray Nagin's top housing aide, to look for solutions.

The moratorium threatens to slow the process of transferring the title of blighted houses to buyers willing to renovate the property. The paper said the situation has preservationists dismayed.

"It's already a very lengthy process," said architectural historian Sara Orton. "Now it's just going to take that much longer for a house to be brought back into commerce."

Operation Comeback -- which works to reduce housing blight in New Orleans -- said NORA's program is so worthwhile, the group holds monthly workshops on how to use the process.

"If you can't find an owner, or the owner has died, this is the only recourse that makes it possible for someone to acquire the property for its fair market value," said Operation Comeback director Stephanie Bruno. "It's a very elegant mechanism."

Rehabilitation may not come to a standstill because of the moratorium. There are about 1,000 cases waiting to be processed, according to Mazique.

(LOS ANGELES) -- Koo Koo Roo -- which normally specializes in serving chicken at its Southern California fast food restaurants -- plans to serve up turkey on Thanksgiving, by donating 2,500 pounds of the holiday bird to the Los Angeles Mission to help feed the homeless.

According to a company press release, that's enough turkey to feed almost 4,000 hot meals at the Mission's Annual Thanksgiving Meal.

For over 50 years, the Los Angeles Mission has served the needs of people of Skid Row -- providing emergency services such as shelter, food and clothing, as well as professional medical and dental services. The mission also offers long-term residential rehabilitation through its Urban Training Institute -- including education, job training/placement, transitional housing and counseling.