Featured image: Detroit skyline viewed from Belle Isle Park, August 2024, by TheWxResearcher, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

DETROIT — At least three children and teens were wounded or killed in a week of gun violence in Detroit, and the fallout dominated public comment at the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners meeting Thursday night.

Residents raised safety concerns ahead of Halloween, questioning whether trick-or-treating will be safe this year. At the Thursday meeting, Commissioner Beverly Watts urged parents not to live in fear and pointed to trunk-or-treat events at churches, police precincts and recreation centers as safer alternatives, according to FOX 2.

Commissioner Darryl Woods, also speaking at the meeting, cited conflict-resolution outreach and community violence interventionists as part of the city’s response, FOX 2 reported.

The discussion comes as the city had recently been touting declining violent-crime statistics before the latest spike. The City of Detroit has announced “Halloween in the D,” a lineup of family-friendly Halloween activities (detroitmi.gov).

Sources: FOX 2, FOX 2 (video), City of Detroit.