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Detroit police face increasing danger in the line of duty

Posted at 11:37 PM, Jul 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-26 23:37:28-04

Detroit police have been busy and the bad guys have been too.

Just this past weekend there have been 3 offer involved shootings - suspects opening fire on officers, officers forced to fire back.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig tells 7 Action News that since September of last year, 10 officers have been shot or killed in the line of duty.

Those numbers don’t include, cops that have been shot at or ambushed.

The chief and many of his officers believe anti-police rhetoric online, on social media and in the news is playing a big part in the shift.

“Every Facebook post you see somebody is talking about kill them, kill them all, we don’t need them,” says Ofc. Kijuan Anderson.

They say this language is playing on the emotions of he good cops and good citizens and pitting them against one another.

Police involved shootings across this county and here at home, have made tensions high and tempers flare.

The upcoming release of the Detroit movie depicts DPD, in years past. Though the hope is that those who see it will focus on the present of the Detroit Police Department and the future.

“1967 does not represent the Detroit Police Department of 2017,” those are the words from the department’s leader James Craig.

His officers tell 7 Action News they will continue to gain the trust of the citizens they serve, one work day at a time.